Use of modern digital technologies and leisure time by primary school pupils

Authors

KACHLÍK Petr LEBEDOVÁ Irena

Year of publication 2022
Type Article in Proceedings
Conference Life in Health 2022: Research and Practice. Proceedings of the Conference held on 13–14 October 2022
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Education

Citation
Web Plné znění sborníku ke stažení
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.5817/CZ.MUNI.P280-0341-2022-10
Keywords questionnaire; information and communication technology; internet; non-substance addiction; computer; prevention; risk; social network; television; leisure; research; primary school; health; pupil
Description The main objective of the research was to describe how a sample of second-grade elementary school students approach modern digital technologies and methods of communication, how they use them, and how often they encounter them. Furthermore, it was investigated how the respondents typically spend their personal free time, whether they have already encountered risky moments in cyberspace, how they reacted and whether parental control works during their activities on the computer and on the Internet. The design of a quantitative survey implemented using an anonymous questionnaire was chosen for the research. The questionnaire contained 22 items, consisting of basic identifiers, followed by questions focused on ways of spending free time, watching television, using a computer, movement on social networks, cyberbullying, parental control, playing slot machines, frequency of encountering defective website content and its solutions. The questionnaire was completely filled out by 500 respondents during the teaching of social science subjects. The EpiInfo package and the chi-square test were used for statistical data analysis. The monitored group consisted of second-grade pupils of 8 elementary schools from the South Moravian Region, the snowball sampling method was used for recruitment. Respondents most often spend their leisure individually, less frequent interest groups or sports. A third communicates with friends on social networks, a third meets peers in real life, the rest of those interviewed spend leisure off alone or with their family. More than a tenth of the pupils watch TV every working day, more than half 3–4 times a week. A fifth regularly watch TV on weekends, and more than a third on a one free day. The total time spent watching television during the week is most often 6–10 hours, and the genre of action and science fiction films appeals to the pupils. A fifth of pupils use the computer for daily entertainment, almost two-thirds for most of the week. The total time spent on the computer per day is evenly distributed from 2–3 hours to 4 hours and more. More than 40% of the group communicates on social networks, almost a quarter plays games, a fifth surfs the Internet, a tenth watches a video. 80% of the group follows social networks daily, half of the pupils also contact unknown users. 5% of pupils have already encountered cyberbullying, 3% of pupils have bullied someone else in this way at least once, 1% repeatedly. Mocking texts or photos were used for the attacks. Regular parental control is carried out for 16% of pupils, for a tenth it is not used. 8% use slot machines several times a month, 1% regularly several times a week. In the case of encountering defective content on the website, less than a tenth of pupils consult their parents or teachers, a third consult their peers, and more than half do not resolve the situation in any way. A fifth of pupils often come across risky content on the web, boys significantly more often. The daily time spent by pupils with better and worse results on activities on the computer, as well as the level of parental supervision over younger and older students, are not significantly different. Nobody talks to 56% of individuals about limiting their online activities, 28% sometimes, and 16% often or very often. Only 1% of children who encountered negative phenomena on the Internet confided in a specialist. What is desirable is more consistent media education in the family and at school, more frequent and intensive parental supervision over the use of modern technologies.
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