title: What children do on the Internet: domains visited and their relationship to socio-demographic characteristics and academic performance.
abstract: HomeNetToo is a longitudinal field study designed to examine the antecedents and consequences of home Internet use in low-income families. Participants included 140 children, mostly 13-year-old African American (83%) boys (58%), living in single-parent households (75%) where the median annual income was $15,000 (USD). This report focuses on children's Internet activities, socio-demographic characteristics related to their Internet activities, and the relationship between academic performance and Internet activities. Overall, findings indicate that low-income children initially use the Internet primarily for entertainment. As home Internet use loses its novelty children become more focused in their Internet activities, reducing the number of websites they visit and visiting more websites targeted to their specific interests. Pornography websites are popular initially, especially among boys, but their popularity decreases dramatically after 3 months. Age, race, and sex have little influence on which websites are most popular. Academic performance predicts subsequent Internet activities, and Internet activities predict subsequent academic performance. Directions for future research to identify mechanisms that mediate the relationship between Internet activities and academic performance and implications for the digital divide are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. Jackso67@msu.edu
authors.forename: Linda A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: Ricky
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Samona
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moomaw
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ramsay
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Lindsay
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Murray
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D004522:Educational Status; D004882:Erotica / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008824:Michigan; D020954:Single-Parent Family / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014600:Utilization Review / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001741:Black or African American