February 8, 2007
UW researcher: New ‘digital divide’ separating parents and kids
The digital divide is no longer just a term to connote the differences in Internet use between the rich and the poor. Today, that divide is narrowing, but a new one is emerging and growing: the digital divide of the 21st century separating parents and their children, according to Dr. Dimitri Christakis, UW associate professor of pediatrics and director of the Child Health Institute.
In the February issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, Christakis writes: “There is no doubt that the accelerating pace of technology has yet again dramatically changed the experience of American childhood.” Christakis’ editorial accompanies a study by Michele Ybarra of Internet Solutions for Kids, Inc. that also appeared in the issue.
Ybarra’s study of 1,497 youth, ages 10 to 17, in the United States concluded that teens who talk to strangers online are more likely to become victims of online harassment than those who share their personal information on the Internet. In a 2005 telephone survey, researchers examined the frequency of nine online behaviors believed to increase the odds of online victimization, including: posting personal information online, sending personal information online, harassing or embarrassing someone, making rude or nasty comments, meeting someone online; having people who are known only online on their buddy list, talking about sex with someone known only online, purposely visiting an X-rated Web site, and downloading images from a file-sharing program.
One in four of the respondents engaged in four or more different types of these behaviors in 2004. Those who engaged in four types of online behaviors were 11 times more likely to report online interpersonal victimization than those reporting none of the online behaviors.
The authors encouraged child and adolescent health professionals to help parents in assessing their children’s online behaviors.
Christakis observes that the digital divide can foster paranoia and anxiety or benign neglect on the parents’ behalf. The finding that the most influential risk factors for online interpersonal victimization are talking about sex with someone known only online and being rude or nasty oneself shows that we need to develop and test practical “strategies for teaching children Internet hygiene,” Christakis writes.
Christakis is co-author with Fred Zimmerman of The Elephant in the Living Room: Make Television Work for Your Kids (Rodale 2006).
