THE EFFECT OF INTERNET ON YOUTH: WHAT WE KNOW, WHAT WE DO NOT KNOW AND WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW

Abstract

Today's Internet usage is a necessity for everyone and has a tremendous impact on life. The internet is able to change the way of thinking, interaction with the world, and create new forms of behavior. The vast majorities of the people who use the internet are children and teens that are categorized as youth while reportedly, many teens spend an average of 8 hours online every day. The internet is a technological advancement that one cannot avoid in the present, including children. As the need of using the internet for everyone is inevitable, providing children with the foundation for internet usage to be a force for good, equipping and supporting them to manage the inevitable risks that life proffers, using technology tools to enrich their everyday lives is a necessity for adults.  What can we take from these conceptualizations of youth behavior on using the internet and what is it that we are lacking knowing thus far?  The objectives -of this study are to determine the mediating effects of Internet gratification usage between purposes of Internet usage, internet skills, and patterns of internet usage and its effect on youth development. This study seeks to explore how character education of youth today is being shaped by Internet influence. The authors will summarize the articles based on their focus, research paradigms, guiding theories, journal publisher and years of publication within a decade. The intended results will be a new theoretical framework for understanding the digital world and its character impact toward children and youth in this generation. This paper also has implications for many fields of study who are interested in the issue of digital behavior and youth development.

Keywords: Internet Usage, Youth, Development, Effect, Character Education, Digital Behavior