Research Paper The use and trends of information and communication technology (ICT) during middle childhood

Objective : Information and communication technologies (ICT) have become an integral part of people’s lives. Trends suggest that the age when technology is used for the first time is rapidly decreasing and that children are exposed to ICT daily. However, the focus of the existing research has been on adolescents, and there is a dearth of knowledge about the use of ICT amongst children in middle childhood in South Africa. The objective of this study was to address this issue. Method : The research participants included 12 children aged between 6 and 12 years old from two private schools (a boys’ school and a girls’ school) in the Gauteng region. A phenomenological approach was used to explore the use and trends of ICT among this age group. A semi-structured interview approach was employed for the data collection and each interview was tape-recorded and transcribed by the researcher. The Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to analyse and interpret the data collected. Results : Various themes were identified. While all the participants had been exposed to and used ICT, a clear developmental trend was observed: not only were younger children less sophisticated users of ICT, but they were also less informed about the dangers of ICT usage. The participants were generally not supervised but some rules were implemented by the parents. Although the children did not experience cyber bullying, they did report exposure to pornography. Conclusion : The results suggest various implications for developmental trends and protection of children. Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health 2011, 23(1): 29–42