The Influence of the Internet on the Intellectual Development of Youth

As society becomes increasingly reliant on information technology, the amount of time devoted to computer activity and wasting time on the internet is also on the rise, a fact that may have important implications for the intellectual development of contemporary youth. Studies devoted to exploring these implications almost uniformly state a recommendation for additional research; however, several distinctly positive effects have been recorded, indicating the advantages of Internet usage for a student’s formative years and providing the foundation for further research. Participation in computer and video games is one particular sphere of technological activity where positive developmental effects are most noticeable, and the availability of information on the web, whether scholarly or recreational, encourages enhanced reading levels, leading to academic stimulation that may see students perform better in school over all. Nevertheless, with these inherent benefits comes inevitable socioeconomic disparity, arising from inequality in home Internet access that perpetuates negative cycles typically associated with the unequal distribution of wealth. Overall, increased participation in Internet activity, as well as cultural variance of access, may affect social, psychological, and academic aspects of a child’s development, but it remains to be seen whether these effects are of an entirely positive nature.

To better understand how computer activity among youth affects development, it is helpful to have an idea of how the Internet is used on a daily basis, as well as the varying levels of access available. In 2011, a reported 71.7 percent of American families had home Internet access, compared to 54.7 percent of families in 2003 and 18.0 percent reported in 1997 (File 1). During the same year, surveys showed that 58 percent of children ages three to seventeen had Internet access at home, almost six times the figure recorded in 1997 (“Home Computer Access” 1). In contrast, as early as 1999 parents reported their children spending an average four hours and forty-eight minutes per day in front of a television screen or computer monitor, with children between the ages of two and seven spending two to three hours, and those between eight and thirteen spending six hours or more (“Impact on Children’s Activities” 125). In the fifteen years following this particular survey, home Internet access has risen by nearly twenty percent; therefore it is safe to assume that reported screen time for children has increased as well, the effect of which merits insight into how contemporary youth are affected.

When assessing the benefits a communications tool like the Internet has for the development of children and adolescents, it is necessary to consider a myriad of factors that may help or hinder intellectual growth. Relevant factors include social effects, psychological effects, and academic effects, as well as the variance of accumulated effects across socioeconomic class. The use of these factors in studying the potential for a connection between Internet exposure and intellectual development is crucial, as their inclusion allows for observation across the entire spectrum of developmental effects, whether as a result of exposure or lack thereof. Due to the technical and social complexity of the Internet (Yan 2), studies conducted thus far on the topic have yielded mixed results when it comes to social and psychological factors, indicating that individual effects can only be properly measured through monitoring of specific activity (“Impact on Children’s Activities” 123). Children who spend more time engaged in social media and online gaming, for example, are not necessarily in detriment for their social development, as long as those they are interacting with are not individuals with whom they have only a superficial relationship (“Impact on Adolescent’s Development” 19). Similarly, any potential psychological effects are dependent upon the nature of information or material being sought out by an individual; school related activity is likely to have a positive effect, while engagement with some of the more explicit material available on the web is likely to have negative psychological outcomes (“Impact on Children’s Activities” 134). Because of the wide variance of social and psychological effects recorded, researchers generally agree that more systematic investigation should occur to truly maximize the benefits to adolescents and curtail the negative impacts of increased Internet usage (“Impact on Children’s Activities” 123). Academic, or intellectual, effects on children are comparatively consistent, laying the groundwork for increasing incorporation of computer-mediated learning environments in the scholastic world.

With youth access to the Internet on the rise, some researchers are discovering that certain connections can be made between increased computer usage and academic performance. One successful study that several concurrent lines of research make reference to is the HomeNet project initiated in 2000, which provided lower income households with computers and Internet access so that conclusions could be drawn regarding specific activity and targeted results (Jackson, von Eye, & Biocca 1). At the end of a two-year monitoring period of online activity, results were such that a modest increase in grade point average and standardized test scores were found to coincide with increased Internet activity by the children of each home (Jackson et al. 1). Another study found that frequent Internet activity could have positive effects on reading and writing skills, although there was no significant development in areas involving math or science (Jackson et al. 1). In general however, the “game-like learning environment” facilitated by the Internet provides contemporary youth with an interface that is mentally stimulating, “combining both the learning journey and entertainment (Yan 3).” It is also worth noting that an increasing number of games are being produced specifically targeting subjects like math, history and science, so intellectual developments outside of reading and writing will likely be assessed in time (Yan 3). Overall, collective research supports a correlation between moderate improvement of intelligence markers and Internet usage, with notable development of cognitive skills as a result of increased online interaction.

One particular avenue of computer activity is that of online gaming, the participation in which has been linked to various increases in cognitive abilities among youth. The nature of modern computer and video games has seen a “shift in the balance of required information-processing, from verbal to visual,” a shift that notably contributes to the development of “visual intelligence” among youth (“Impact on Adolescent’s Development” 13). Gaming can give children advantages when it comes to spatial representation skills, including abilities related to mental rotation and spatial visualization that contribute overall to spatial performance in a 3-D online environment (“Impact on Adolescent’s Development” 13). Additionally, gamers develop skills in analog representation, the ability to quickly interpret diagrams or images, and also visual attention, or the ability to respond to different events when attention is divided (“Impact on Adolescent’s Development” 14). Studies have shown that skilled computer game players were prone to more rapid response times when compared with non-participants, and even draw connections between a rise in nonverbal IQ scores and the “proliferation of imagery and electronic technologies” typifying the last two decades (“Impact on Adolescent’s Development” 15). Video and computer games are only growing in number and popularity, a fact that encourages the widespread cultural development of skills perfectly suited to the growing mass of visual and mental stimuli available.

As an increasing number of children make regular use of the Internet, one relevant concern is the potential for those who do not have frequent access to miss out on the developmental benefits afforded to those that do. Disparity in Internet access among demographic groups has remained consistent throughout the past two decades, indicating the persistence of wealth imbalance (File 2). Surveys conducted in 2011 revealed that 76.2 percent of Caucasian and 82.7 percent of Asian families had home Internet access, compared to 58.3 percent of Hispanic and 56.9 percent of African American households (File 2). Inequality arising from unequal access to the Internet is traditionally referred to as the digital divide, a condition most frequently affecting children whose families are financially disadvantaged (Yan 2). Accessing the Internet in an academic environment as opposed to at home is substantially more limited, leaving students in a lower socioeconomic bracket with a small window of time in which to complete assignments and conduct further research. This can cause poor children to fall behind their more privileged peers, negatively affecting academic performance, but also social awareness according to more recent studies (Yan 2). The social digital divide provides an additional lens through which to view technological inequality; limitations as a result of filters set in place at school leave students unprepared for the true nature of the Internet and without “virtual immune systems (Yan 2).” These students are unprepared for the mass amount of information and media readily available as a result of the Internet, stunting a valuable kind of modern social development that can be crucial in a rapidly advancing technological world (Yan 2). Disadvantages among youth as a result of the digital divide mirror disparities caused by varying economic backgrounds, perpetuating negative cycles of social and cultural inequality.

As the average age of computer users extends further into childhood and the frequency with which small children are engaged in computer technology grows, the developmental effects of such participation are of rising interest to researchers, parents, and teachers alike. Statistics for youth access and participation in Internet services are steadily increasing, and the developmental progression of children as a result of such activity is gaining cultural relevance, with studies completed thus far strongly indicating the need for additional examination. While the social and psychological effects of home computer use are difficult to quantify, studies indicate that the academic and intellectual effects of Internet usage on children and adolescents are of a distinctly positive nature. The increasing prevalence of video and computer games instills cognitive abilities that are unattainable otherwise, and the continued development of subject-specific programs will likely perpetuate positive learning environments as a result of computer use. Perhaps the only dark cloud on the horizon is the potential for increasing cultural inequality as a result of the digital divide, putting certain socioeconomic groups at a growing disadvantage due to conditions that they are unable to influence. Only time will truly tell if increased Internet exposure remains in the best interests of the development of youth, but if preliminary research is any indication, students will only continue to benefit from the permeation of technology into the academic sphere.

Works Cited

File, Thom. "Computer and internet use in the United States." Current Population Survey Reports. US Census Bureau (2013). http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/p20-569.pdf

“Home Computer Access & Internet Use: Indicators on Children and Youth.” Child Trends Data Bank. August 2013. http://www.childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/69_Computer_Use.pdf

Jackson, Linda A., Alexander von Eye, & Frank Biocca. "Children and Internet Use: Social, Psychological and Academic Consequences for Low-Income children." American Psychological Association. Dec. 2003. http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2003/12/jackson.aspx

Subrahmanyam, Kaveri, Patricia Greenfield, Robert Kraut, & Elisheva Gross. "The Impact of Home Computer Use on Children's Activities & Development." Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 22.1 (2001): 7-30.

Subrahmanyam, Kaveri, Patricia Greenfield, Robert Kraut, & Elisheva Gross. "The Impact of Computer Use on Children’s and Adolescent’s Development." The Future of Children 10.2 (2000): 123-144.

Yan, Zheng. "Children And The Internet." Virginia Department of Education. June 2007. http://www.doe.virginia.gov/support/technology/info_briefs/children_internet.pdf