Comunicar 39-ingles - Revista Comunicar

67and 18 are present in a social network, being Tuenti(three out of five consider it their favorite) andFacebook (one in every five has an account) the morepopular choices. The study also introduces relativedata with respect to the sensitivity of minors in terms ofthe risks associated with the Internet. It seems relevantthat one in every five users between the ages of 10 and18 believes that they can upload any video image onthe Internet. To this information can be added equallydisturbing data that shows that 10% of minors surveyedhave admitted to using the Internet to do harm toa peer.According to the study carried out by Bringué andSábada (2008) during which 25,000 children be -tween the ages of 6 and 18 were surveyed fromArgentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru andVenezuela, 46% of the children affirmed that theirparents only asked them what they did while surfingthe Internet. On the other hand, 36% indicated thattheir parents «donothing» while27% replied thattheir parentsmake it a point to«take a look» atthem while theysurf the Web ona regular basis.The study establishesthat only9% of those childrensurveyedreplied that theirparents «do something together» with them while 5%said that their parents look at their emails or check thesites the children have visited. Furthermore, within theLatin-American context, the study reveals that 45% ofminors interviewed between the ages of 6 and 9 preferthe Internet over television and that, among themost valued activities, are sending emails, virtual «meetings»and conversations in real time. The possibility of«having fun alone or with others» at a distance is alsohighly valued by the children surveyed. In the NorthAmerican context, a study on the use of the Internet byadolescents establishes that leisure (movies, TV series,music etc.), the search of information and receivinginstant messages constitute the most popular activitieson the Web. The following table, taken from the«Pew Questionnaire on the Internet and American lifefor parents and teens, 2006»#, allows us to verify thistype of activity in cyberspace.The above table shows the growing tendency ofminors to dedicate their leisure time to surfing theInternet. It thus establishes an increase in the timededicated to cyberspace in detriment to other leisureactivities which previously had been analogue in nature.Therefore, by virtue of the percentages indicated inthe table above, it is possible to identify different workareas within the context of the use of the Internet byyounger audiences.In all cases, the figure and role of the teacher iscrucial in order for minors to attain a critical, analyticaland qualitative use of the Internet. This set of goalsinterconnects with the main objectives established inthe curriculum of UNESCO with respect to minorsand the use of the Internet. Finally, taking into considerationthese aims or trains of thought, we can list thefollowing points to consider:• Conceptual reflection. There is a need to identifyand establish the scope of the main concepts introducedby the Internet, as well as their implications,Table 1: Adolescent activities on the Internet (2006).connections and defining characteristics. This is ultimatelya necessary challenge in order to have teacherscapable of dealing with the Web 2.0 scenario, and theInternet in general, in a solvent and autonomous way.Similarly, teachers must know the content of the mainagreements, treaties, declarations and other documents,international or national, and have contributedto the legislation and / or regulation of questions concerningthe presence of children in cyberspace and thepotential uses they make of it. Teachers must be ableto grasp the possibilities of the Internet in their dailywork, applying it in the early stages of investigation,preparation of teaching materials, creation of e-activitiesetc.• Establishing mechanisms of mediation in theconsulting process. The characteristics of the Internet,tied to the uses that children make of it, call for the creationand application of mechanisms that guarantee,through mediation, the use that children make of theComunicar, 39, XX, 2012© ISSN: 1134-3478 • e-ISSN: 1988-3293 • Pages 65-72