The use of electronic computers and internet from children at a Greek provincional area

THE USE OF ELECTRONIC COMPUTERS AND INTERNET FROM CHILDREN AT A GREEK PROVINCIONAL AREA
Triantafilia Loukou¹, Olga Adrami², Athina Spilioti²,
Mammas Dimitrios³, Ioannis Keramidas², Ioanna Ignatiadi², Christos Koufalis¹
Pediatric Clinic of the General Hospital of Amfissa¹, Hellenic Centre for Diseases Control and Prevention ², Lung Specialist³
Objectives: The purpose of this study is the record of the use of computers and internet from the children of the Fokida Prefecture.
Methods: From 1/8/2008 to 31/10/2008, 465 questionnaires were fulfilled by children (boys: 54.2% - girls: 45.8%), aged from 8 to 14 years, during their visit at the outpatient clinics of the Hospital.
Results: 46.1% of the children were aware of the computer’s use. 31.5% had computer in their house (9.5% had it inside their bedroom) and 62% were using it in a daily basis.  Reasons of the use of computers were: entertainment (71%), education (23%), contact with friends (4.8%) and update (1.2%). Headaches or dizziness after a long hour use were reported by 8.7% of the children. As trainers the children mentioned: parents or siblings (39.6%), school (37.5%) and crammer (22.9%). 53.2% use internet (90.5% inside their house), 19% of them on a daily basis. Main reasons of internet use were entertainment (67.5%) and education (26%). 44.5% of the children are supervised by their parents during the internet use, while only 12% of the children are not allowed to enter in “inappropriate” danger sites. 23.5% of the children visits very often internet cafès (91% without their parents escort).
Conclusions: The use of computers and internet is still not very popular in the area. It takes place mainly for entertainment, having as a basic trainer the family. Teachers must take a primary role in the training of the children, and parents in the surveillance of their kids, regarding the internet use.