The purpose of this paper is to explore the Internet usage of 12 years old children. The focus will be on how these youngsters use Internet as a social resource in their daily lives, and on what they perceive as unpleasant or risky when discussions and “teasing” go too far. We will also address how these youngsters cope with such incidents. The empirical base is the focus group and individual interviews we performed with children in the 7th grade in a Norwegian elementary school in 2009 (the project is called “Internet in children’s lives”). This paper and the project it draws upon is inspired by our involvement in the EuKidsOnline Network (cf. Hagen and Wold, 2009). Our interviews with 12 year olds indicate that the social and communicative aspects are central; Internet usage for this age group is primarily about communicating and having fun with their friends online.
Reference:
Hagen, Ingunn & Thomas Wold (2009): Mediegenerasjonen. Barn og Unge i det nye medielandskapet (The Media Generation: Children and Young People in the New Media Landscape). Oslo: Samlaget.