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Disconnect? With so Many Teens Online, One Group Wants Them to Shut Down for Week

Posted on: Friday, 5 August 2005, 03:01 CDT

You can find anything online, including nearly nine out of 10 teenagers, according to a recent survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

According to the survey, 87 percent of pupils ages 12-17 use the Internet. That's 21 million youths online.

Jeffrey Burke, 16, is one of them.

"I'm online all the time, several times a day," said the rising junior at Jefferson County High School. "Whenever I have free time it's on the computer."

Sometimes he's downloading music (legally, he asserts) but mostly he's using instant messaging to communicate with friends, including one who is "like a brother" and lives in western Alabama.

"I couldn't live without talking to him," Jeffrey said.

He just can't afford to do it on the phone.

"Charges on the phone are just horrible," Jeffrey said. "It's easier to talk on the Internet."

With technological advances that allow teens to access their friends and their favorite Web sites in more places and from more platforms, teens relying on the Internet won't change anytime soon, Pew surveyors found.

"We live in an environment that has lot of technology and media in it," said Amanda Lenhart, the senior research specialist with the Pew project and co-author of the study. "Of course, for 13 percent of all American teens, technology is not as ubiquitous, as ever- present, but for a vast majority it's a very normal part of life."

Half of teens are online every day, she said.

But is that too much time online?

The group PC Turnoff is sponsoring a shutdown campaign this week that urges families to turn off their computers and leave them off.

"We are by no means anti-computer or anti-technology," said Joe Acunzo, a founding member of PC Turnoff, who says the group aims to promote healthy computer use. "We're big believers in technology and the use of computers in young people. Many of us work in the computer industry. Our concern is the excessive use of computers. There are a lot of problems students can encounter when they are on the computer excessively."

Excessive use has been linked to obesity and lost concentration, Mr. Acunzo said. There even are social implications.

"Young people can become socially isolated if they're sitting for hours and hours and don't get to interact with peers in that one-on- one" he said. "They might have that virtual interaction but that's no substitute for one-on-one, in-person contact. They don't get a chance to exercise their social skills."

That might only be true part of the time.

For as much as teens get and stay online, Ms. Lenhart said, most log on in order to be social.

"They want to build a network to stay connected. The Internet allows them to stay in touch, and there's a big appeal there," Ms. Lenhart said. "Most teens who go online say most of the teens they know go online as well. Those who don't feel disconnected."

But logging on isn't the end of it, she said.

"There is a myth of a very isolated teen who spends hours with open eyes and clammy skin staring at a computer screen. It's not true. Teens see it (going online) as part of a whole life, of interacting with people in life. They do get out," Ms. Lenhart said. "They certainly aren't using (computers) to the exclusion of everything else."

Jeffrey agreed that he doesn't.

"I guess I'd rather be on the computer than playing with the dog. It seems more fun to be online than outside in the heat," Jeffrey said. "But I'd rather be with my youth group than on the computer, that I can say."

The Pew survey found that the average 12- to 17-year-old reported spending 10.3 hours a week with friends doing social activities outside of school, and about 7.8 hours talking with friends via technology such as the telephone, e-mail, instant messaging or text messaging.

Melissa Black, 16, a rising junior at North Augusta High School, said that for her and her friends getting online is simply another way to stay connected. She spends most of her free time chatting with friends via instant messaging.

"With the Internet, they're right there," she said. "I just like being able to talk to everybody without having to call them up."

Melissa still gets out to see them and her other peers, though.

"I'm pretty active. I play soccer, I'm in band," she said "I have a lot of friends and I love to hang out with them."

She spent a week at camp without the Internet and didn't miss it.

"It wasn't hard at all," she said. "I was out having fun with friends."

Mr. Acunzo said increasing instances such as Melissa's experience is what his group and the PC Turnoff Week is all about.

"Teens sitting in front of the computer and surfing the Web, playing games, and IMing friends - all that's fine in moderation," he said. "Anything in excess is bad. It's good to have a balanced life. It's all about balance."

It just isn't always that easy, Jeffrey surmised.

"Giving up the computer for a week is like giving up talking to your friends for a week," he said.

That doesn't mean he wouldn't take the challenge.

"I'd be willing to try it," he admitted. "Frankly, I do think I'm addicted."

Reach Kamille Bostick at (706) 823-3223

or kamille.bostick@augustachronicle.com.

Source: Augusta Chronicle, The

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