Filipino Children’s Uses of the Internet and Mobile Phone Essay

I. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMHow do Filipino children integrate the mesh and mobile phone into their everyday life and peer and family relationships? This theater of operations is a response to a suggestion by Sonia Livingstone (2003) to investigate further childrens relationships in the cutting media environs. It also seeks to address the lack of empirical studies on Filipino childrens engagements with and in the new media, specifically the Internet and mobile phone. Why children? As children become more exposed to new media through school and Home, it is alpha to investigate how they use and appropriate these technologies in their everyday life. Do these technologies allow for continuity or change in childrens experience of leisure, school, peer and family relationships?II. supposalNo stated hypothesis in the study.III. RESEARCH METHODIII.a Research DesignSince the objective is to identify, describe and explain childrens activities in the new media environment and how they use these technologies, a qualitative design was employed for the study. This approach allows us to probe further into the contextual realm of childrens engagements with and in the new media.III.b toolData were gathered through a depth interview guide, which allowed respondents to narrate and explain their uses of the Internet and mobile phone as well as their relationships online. The spare-time activity are the concepts investigated and the corresponding questionsa. Access and Usage of the Mobile Phone/Internet1. How did you come to own one? Why?2. How long have you been using a mobile phone?3. How often do you use the phone?4. Where do you have Internet access? Why?5. How often do you use the Internet? Why?b. Uses and Contexts of the Mobile Phone1. What do you do with your cell phone? Why?2. What types of messages do you send? Why?IV. CONCLUSIONAcknowledging the lack of empirical studies on children and new media, this study asked how a sample of Filipino children integrated new me dia into their everyday lives and in their relationships with peers and family members. It sought to understand the uses of the Internet and mobile phone in the context of home (family life), school, and leisure activities of children. A contextual approach to the use of new media looks at how these technologies are incorporated into everyday routines and acknowledges how values and social practices order new media uses. By comparing Internet and mobile phone uses, this preliminary study sought to ascertain themeanings of these two different but related media among Filipino children. Data suggested that the contexts of family, school, and leisure defined the uses of the new media. The Internet was used mainly for information seeking related to school and interests, relational maintenance (friends and relatives) and leisure.On the otherwise hand, the mobile phone was used for coordinating day-to-day practicalities, relational maintenance among family members and peers, and was depl oyed by parents as a means to monitor their childrens whereabouts and activities. In spin participants construed the medium as an extension of parental presence. The study also probed into family and peer relationships of participants in the new media environment. The goal was to provide evidence that would support or diverge opinion regarding the potential of the medium as an environment where social relations are created or maintained. Findings suggested that the media were used primarily to maintain the participants existing social networks earlier than creating new ones. Rarely was the medium used to create new relations. It is important to note that existing relational kinetics in the family largely influence interactions on the mobile phone. Although the phone provided accessibility, it was not a guarantee in improving relations between parents and children, and among siblings.IV. ANALYSISThe obvious change is the accessibility and convenience that these new media provide t o facilitate information search and communication. The impact can be seen in the way children do research and regard reading books. As the study unveiled, participants tended to spend less time in the library and get their material instead online, where information is easily copied. The ways school children do research on the Internet could be investigated in future studies. This finding also suggests a need to emphasize detailed media literacy among young people that would train them to be critical consumers and users of online information.Almost all of the Filipinos of today are well-oriented when it comes to latest gadgets and its uses, especially the adolescents who used this in almost all of the time. However, there is a big problem when it comes to the neat use of technology. Some Filipinos tend to be abusing the trueessence of technology. Some used it for cyber bullying and any sort of crime related to this. Accessibility does not necessarily alter existing social and cultu ral practices for example, participants tended to communicate more within their network of relations. Indeed for this sample of children, Filipino family and peer relational dynamics still find their way in the new media environment.V. REFERENCESBakardjieva, M. and Smith, R. (2001). The internet in everyday life. saucy Media and Society. 3 (1) 67-83.Jones, S. (1995). Community in the information age. In S. E. Jones Ed.. Cybersociety ready reckoner Mediated Communication and Community. London Sage. Leung, L. & Wei, R. (2000). More than just talk on the move Uses and gratifications of the cellular phone. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly. 77 (2) 308-320.Lievrouw, L. & Livingstone, S. (2002). Handbook of New Media Social Shaping and Consequences of ICTs. London Sage.Livingstone, S. & Bovill, M. (1999). Young people, new media. Report of the Research Project. Children, young people and the changing media environment. London School of Economics and Political Science. address able http//www.lse.ac.uk/collections/medialse/whosWho/soniaLivingstonePublications3.htm Livingstone, S. (2002). Childrens Use of the Internet A Review of Research Literature. National Childrens Bureau. Available http//www.ncb.org.uk/publications/publication Livingstone, S. (2003). Childrens use of the internet reflections on the rising research agenda. New Media and Society. 5 (2) 147-166.http//www.amic.org.sg/Resources/Research_Materials/Media_Youth_and_Children/Filipino%20Children%20Uses%20of%20the%20Internet%20and%20Mobile%20Phone.pdf