LODDON MALLEE - Cyber Safe Kids

RECOMMENDATIONS: It is critical therefore, that “online friendships” are included in a
positive and engaging manner in social skills curriculum in Bendigo schools given the
frequency of such friendships reported by Bendigo students. Raising young people‟s
consciousness about the positives and negatives of online and offline friendships and the
experiential differences of the friendships will assist them to remain emotionally and physically
well in both online and offline friendships.
COMPULSIVE INTERNET USE AND “INTERNET ADDICTION”
The results from the compulsive use questions were surprising, particularly for the younger
group. Over 65% of the sample felt bored when they could not be on the internet, and a
reasonable proportion (32.8%) felt they were missing out on something important when they
could not be on the internet. More than half the students in grade 4 to year 8 reported that they
“sometimes or always” experienced two or more of the following feelings or behaviours: think
about the internet a lot when away from it, spend longer than should or allowed to, check
messages all the time, think they should spend less time on the internet, are on it when they
should be sleeping, and lose track of time on the internet. These data suggest that the grade 4 to
year 8 students in this survey sometimes struggle to manage the negative feelings they
experience when they cannot be on the internet and find it difficult to self-limit their time on
the internet.
For the older sample, 3.5% of students in year 9-11 qualified for “internet addiction.” These
students reported that they “frequently” experienced 5 or more out of the 8 symptoms of
“internet addiction” proposed by international researchers and modelled on general addiction
criteria. This result is similar to a recent large Tasmanian study of “internet addiction” in which
Thomas and Martin (2010) found rates in high school students to be 5.2%. The most frequently
reported symptoms were staying online longer than intended, risking relationship, social or
educational opportunities and repeated unsuccessful attempts to cut down. Thomas and Martin
(2010) also found the most common symptom to be staying online longer than intended.
Interestingly parents and teachers seem to be aware that children and young people often
struggle with feeling compelled to be online: 55% of parents and 80% of teachers surveyed
reported that they were concerned about “internet addiction” and in the open ended questions
parents responded that they are concerned that the internet is addictive and that children waste
considerable amounts of time online. Anecdotally, Bendigo region parents have reflected they
experience difficulties in detecting “internet addiction” and wish to know the symptoms or
signs that they should be vigilant for (R.Treyvaud, personal communication, 1 st September,
2010).
Overall the results regarding compulsive internet use suggest that the students in this sample
struggle with limiting the negative impact of their online activities in terms of time
management, reduction of time for other activities, and feel somewhat out of control in
63 LMCP Bendigo Region Report