Abstract
The Internet has become a standard tool in people’s life. Children are being exposed to technology at a very young age. Some have never known a world without Internet-enabled gadgets. As a result, research is critical to establish the effect of the Internet on children regarding their level of intelligence and socialization. Besides the available literature on the use of the Internet and its impact on children and adolescents, the current project includes a survey to establish the effect. The results of the study indicate that regardless of the common belief among parents and teachers that the Internet makes children smarter and sociable, the effect could be more negative than positive. The Internet can hinder critical and analytical skills and isolate children from the social world.
Internet and Children: Are Children Smarter (or more Social) Because of the Internet
Introduction
Technology has penetrated almost all sectors. Some children, especially those born after the 1990s have never known a world without technology. The Internet is a critical part of this generation’s lives as everything they do in modern life involves computers or some other types of technology, such as smartphones. Children are beginning to use technological tools at a very young age and grow up with them. Many have smartphones, tablets, and iPods that they operate every day either at home or in school. Some of the devices are Internet-enabled, and they use them to search for information or access YouTube for videos. With many children of all ages using the Internet every day, it is imperative to ask whether technology is providing a learning environment or just a means to socialize with friends. Hence, to answer the question, the study is organized in various sections, including the prevalence of Internet use, the result of Internet use, the effect on intelligence, the influence on socialization, and the academic impact.
Research Question
The increase in the number of children with access to technology leads to the question: Are children smarter (or more social) because of the Internet? Another question is whether the Internet supports or hinders their education or socialization.
Research
Introduction
The study explored current research about the effect of the Internet on children. Children are fascinated with technological gadgets that are Internet-enabled. Simply stated, the Internet is all they know and grown up using. The technology has invaded their homes and schools. As a result, modern-day children have lost their capability to entertain themselves. Hence, it is necessary to find out whether these individuals are smarter than those who grew up before the development of the Internet. Besides, it helps to understand if they are more social because the Internet and technology connect them to the whole world. The research focuses on various aspects of the impact of the Internet on children, including the prevalence of Internet use, the effect of Internet use, the effect on intelligence, the impact on socialization, and the academic impact. The study uses current research and scholarly evidence on the topic.
According to an article in the Saudi Gazette, more than 175,000 children visit the Internet for the initial time each day. Globally, one in every three Internet users are children. Saudi Arabia has witnessed an increase in the number of children using the Internet because of insufficient supervision by parents and guardians. The Saudi General Authority for Statistics conducted a survey in 2018. The study focused on the Internet and telecommunication use by individuals and families. According to the results of the research, 92.51% of families in the country use the Internet every day. Besides, among the users, 23.44% are children between five and nine years. 48.45% of the individuals are between 10 and 14 years. About 93.19% of the young users of the Internet are students (Al-Solami, 2019). The increased use of the Internet among children has led to increasing research to establish the potential impact.
The Effect of the Internet Use
The prevalence of the Internet in society warrants extensive research to establish the potential impact, especially on children. The Internet has been proven to have considerable implications for individual users and society in general. The effect of the Internet does not match any other technological development in recent years. Unfortunately, the significant impact of the Internet holds for both the negative and positive side of Internet use. For instance, while it creates strong social bonds, it can also lead to undesired changes in cultural norms in the users. Therefore, it can cause people to move away from desirable social dynamics. Nonetheless, the argument regarding the potential impact of the Internet remains controversial because of its good and bad side, especially among younger users whose brains are still developing.
The Impact on Intelligence. Recent research has focused on the impact of the Internet on cognitive development among children and adolescents to establish its role in their level of intelligence. Notably, these individuals are interacting with technology during a period of massive cognitive and social development. As a result, parents and policymakers have raised concerns regarding the use of the Internet and the effect on the growing adolescents (Mills, 2016). Regardless of the potential impact, experimental research is still lacking on the effect of the Internet on cognitive growth. However, Mills (2016) explored the few studies examining the potential impact of the technology on cognitive processes in young people. The Internet has major effects on the cognitive development of children and teenagers. According to Nawal Al-Zahrani, a psychologist from Saudi Arabia, children should not be prevented from accessing the Internet because it has become “the language of the age” (Al-Solami, 2019). The experts indicate the possible consequences of Internet use on the brains of developing children and adolescents.
Several experimental studies have used tasks that can support the knowledge of the impact of Internet use on intelligence. Thus, to begin with, the use of the Internet is equated with access to a collection of human knowledge, both reliable and untrustworthy information sources. Therefore, when children are exposed to the Internet, they must develop and use various ways of interacting with knowledge. For instance, those exposed to the Internet must develop increased memory for some specific types of information and reduced memory for other pieces. Generally, they experience significant changes in their cognitive strategies, which can be highly extensive in a stable Internet environment. Besides, the Internet teaches users to switch between offline and online tasks, which increases their potential for media multitasking. Learning ways to navigate the Internet and the surrounding world is a significant cognitive task in children and adolescents.
Effect on Socialization. Regardless of the potential impact of the Internet on cognitive processes, researchers have also revealed an effect on the social development of children. The area of study is another highly controversial because of the potential benefits and drawbacks of the Internet on socialization. Some researchers in the review by Mills (2016) indicated the potential for impaired social interactions due to the increase in Internet use. Considering the increase in the use of the Internet, parents and teachers are concerned about the possible effect on the social cognitive development of children and adolescents. Some studies have indicated a potentially positive impact on social development, including increased interactions in the offline environment. Besides, use of social networking sites enables adaptation to social nuances’ digital communication that creates increased social competence (Mills, 2016). However, the impact of the isolated and mediated nature of the Internet on socialization remains a topic of serious debate.
In spite of the controversy, the Internet remains the primary means of communication among children in the modern world. It is the primary medium they use to communicate and interact with their peers. Therefore, the growth in the use of the Internet has a profound impact on their social development. The media introduces a social and cultural resource for children and adolescents that can have an impact on their personal and social development (Cenameri, 2013). However, the same can lead to development of adverse social outcomes due to the isolated nature of the virtual world. In recent years, children and teenagers choose to live in a virtual world that lacks contact with the actual world. The world can be lonely and impair social development. Although they interact with others in the same world, they lack a connection with the real traditional means of socialization (Cenameri, 2013). They face challenges in becoming members of the real social world and interacting with real people. Clearly, this becomes a detrimental impact of the Internet and social media.
The Academic Impact. Considering the potential impact of the Internet on cognitive and social development, researchers have sought to understand the effect on educational attainment in the modern age in which technology has emerged in the academic world. After all, students are increasingly engaging with digital tools in their academic endeavors. Some researchers have indicated that the Internet, and technology in general, engages the young mind in complex tasks that supports their cognitive development. Consequently, they develop complex cognitive and analytical skills. However, there is another potential side of the argument. The Internet contains information that is already analyzed and ready to use. Therefore, the question emerges as to what exactly is available in this media that can make children smarter and develop cognitive excellence in education. The Internet does not allow for any analytical skills use because the information is already presented in a way that they only use it for their academic work. The use of the Internet does not allow much effort by the learner to critically and analytically interact with information content. Besides, children might not have to retain much information because they can always find the information online whenever they need it (Sparrow, Liu, & Wegner, 2011). As a result, they are not taking much time engaging with their academic projects.
The Internet developed with sophisticated algorithmic search engines that children can easily use to search and locate any information they require. Basically, Sparrow, Liu, and Wegner (2011) suggest that searching for information is as easy as lifting a finger. Children are growing up in a world where they no longer need much effort to find whatever they want. They can easily “Google” and locate whatever information they require for use in their academic work. They can contact old classmates, locate online articles, or find any other information they are looking for. Research shows that when children are confronted with a difficult task, the first thing they think about is the computer and the Internet (Bulman & Fairlie, 2016). They rarely engage the mind to find answers. As a result, they fail to use their intelligence and rarely engage in recall. The Internet has proven to be the main form of external or transactive memory. Children no longer have to store the information in their memory. Hence, the Internet might be doing more harm than good in terms of intelligence in children.
Conclusion
Parents and schools are investing significantly in technology to improve educational outcomes. Modern children do not know a world without technology. They are exposed to the Internet and other information technologies from a very young age. Children access technology at home and school because adults believe that they have the potential to affect their cognitive development and make them more intelligent. However, the validity of this belief is a subject of great controversy because of the positive and negative effect of the Internet on children. Although it has the potential to affect their cognitive and social development, the impact can also be destructive due to the nature of the technology. The Internet might impair social development because of the isolating characteristics of the virtual world. Besides, the information provided is already analyzed and ready to use, which leaves them with little room to engage their creative thinking and analytical skills or even socialize. Therefore, educators, parents, and policymakers should use more research evidence to understand the actual impact and inform children’s Internet use and online behaviors.
Primary Research
Introduction
The survey was conducted to establish the way children engage with the Internet and the possible effect of their use. The review was done to find out whether students use the Internet in a way that might support their cognitive development. It was critical to understand the possible effect of the Internet on intelligence and socialization.
Method
The study used a primary research method to collect data from participants. It engaged children between 10 and 14 years. The study was conducted at a school where the students were given the questionnaire to answer guided by their teachers. The survey aimed at collecting data to test the two aspects of the study, the impact on intelligence (whether the Internet makes children smarter), and the effect on socialization.
The study included 20 students (10 boys and 10 girls) from a school in Riyadh. The table below shows the ages of the children’s demographics:
| Gender/Age | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| Boys | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Girls | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
The data also revealed the rate of use of the internet by the children. 45% of the children use the internet every day, 25% use more than once a day, 15% use once a day, 10% use once a month, while only 5% use less than once a month (see appendix 2 for the chart presenting the data). The question about the number of hours per day spent on the Internet generated the results indicated in appendix 3. The result reveals that children spend many hours on the internet every day. The chart in appendix 4 shows where students use the internet. From the study, many students communicate with offline friends using Voice call (15%), Video call (20), SMS (20%), instant messaging (25%), skype, and gaming sites (25%). Only two students had met someone physically that they have been communicating online, but none had taken the person with them. Only five of the students had received lessons about the use of the internet and four had received lessons on how to stay safe. The table below shows the number of students who use the internet for educational purposes:
| Yes | No | |
| Males | 8 | 2 |
| Females | 6 | 4 |
Although all students use the internet to complete their assignments, only 20% of the students remember the educational content.Bottom of Form The findings of the survey revealed an increase in the use of the Internet at school and home. The results indicate that children spend many hours every day on the Internet, especially at home. For example, they do their homework by searching the Internet for answers. They also indicate that children have become increasingly dependent on technology for socialization and their academic work. However, the Internet affects them negatively because they do not find the need to memorize content that they can easily find on the Internet. Besides, the distractive and isolated nature of the Internet affects their socialization. Children spend much time on the Internet and have little or no time to socialize with their peers.
Conclusion
The survey provides an essential insight into the use of the Internet and its effect on children and teenagers. It helps to extend the knowledge available in the literature regarding the effect of the Internet on intelligence and socialization among the young people. The most critical points of the survey include the analysis of the impact of technology on analytical skills and memory because they underlie intelligence and the socialization aspect of Internet use. However, the study had a limitation because it could not be used in an experimental test to assess the level of intelligence as an impact of Internet use.
References
Al-Solami, Z. (2019). 23% of Internet users in Saudi Arabia are under 9, Saudi Gazette. Retrieved from http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/558595
Bulman, G., & Fairlie, R. W. (2016). Technology and education: Computers, software, and the Internet. In Handbook of the Economics of Education (Vol. 5, pp. 239-280). Elsevier.
Cenameri, M. (2013). Internet, child and adolescence social development. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 4(2), 571.
Mills, K.L. (2016). Possible effects of internet use on cognitive development in adolescence. Media and Communication, 4(3), 4-12
Sparrow, B., Liu, J., & Wegner, D. M. (2011). Google effects on memory: Cognitive consequences of having information at our fingertips. Science, 333(6043), 776-778.
Appendices
Appendix 1: Survey Questionnaire
Top of Form
*1. Name:
*2. Age
10
11
12
13
14
*3. Class:
*4. Gender
Male
Female
- How often do you use the Internet?
Everyday
More than once a day
Once a day
Once a month
Less than once a month
- On average, how many hours per day do you spend on the Internet?
Less than 1 hour a day
1-2 hours
2-3 hours
3-4 hours
More than 4 hours a day
- Where do you use the Internet?
Home
School
Cafe
Library
Your mobile phone
Friend’s or family’s house
Other (please specify)
- What is the main way of communication with your offline friends?
Voice call(Mobile)
Video call (Mobile)
SMS
Instant Messenging
Skype
Chat Rooms
Gaming Sites
- Have you ever met someone in the real world you have only met online?
Yes
No
- If you have answered ‘yes’ to Q12, did you take someone with you?
Yes
No
If so, who
- Have you received lessons on how to use the Internet?
Yes
No
- Have you received lessons on how to stay safe on the Internet?
Yes
No
- Do you use the Internet for education purpose?
Yes
No
Bottom of Form
- If you use Internet at for education, what room content do you search?
All
Assignments
Supporting information
- Do you thing the Internet helps to you to remember educational content?
Yes, I have to remember what I read.
No, I can always search another time.
Done
Appendix 2: Frequency of Usage
| frequency of usage | no. of students | percentage |
| everyday | 9 | 45 |
| more than once a day | 5 | 25 |
| once a day | 3 | 15 |
| once a month | 2 | 10 |
| less than once a month | 1 | 5 |
Appendix 3: Number of Hours Spent on the Internet
Appendix 4: Place of Internet Usage
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