Power in Relations in the Family and the Use of the Internet - Essay Example

Speech Presentation Total Number of Words 170 Introduction Within a nuclear family, both mother and father have the authoritative power to control their children. In most cases, the wife is given more power to control and discipline the child. There are also cases wherein the husband can practice more authoritative power when it comes to disciplining a child. Because of the Web 2.0 breakthrough, a lot of children now-a-days are using social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace (Almeida 2012; Thanuskodi 2012). Specifically the research question that will be tackled in this oral presentation is ‘How do power in relations in the family influence the use of the Internet?’ Does anybody here ever thought of how parents can actually influence the children’s use of the Internet? Do you agree that our mother or our father has a role to play with regards to a child’s exposure to the use of the Internet? Please raise your hand if you agree that parents have a strong influence in the child’s use of the Internet. Well, the answer to the research question is basically ‘YES’. To address the research question, our team decided to conduct a combined quantitative and qualitative research survey so that we can get a generalized and subjective response from each of the 12 randomly selected research participants. Discussion on Fieldwork Findings To learn more about the degree in which parents can affect the child’s use of the Internet, my group purposely conducted a combined quantitative and qualitative research survey study on a total of 12 students who are currently around 18 years of age. Basically, we have randomly selected 12 students from our school to participate in the fieldwork. To meet the main purpose of our fieldwork, our team worked together to come up with a short research survey questionnaire. During school break-time, our team would gather in the cafeteria to gather at least 12 students who are willing to participate in our fieldwork. Some of the questions used in the survey include those that are answerable by ‘yes’ or ‘no’. This will eventually give us the opportunity to compute for the generalized result. For example, the first research survey question purposely asked whether or not the research participant is using the Internet at least once a day. The second research survey question asked if the research participants agree that parents (both mother and father) have a strong influence on how you use the Internet. Our team also used an open-ended question which will allow us to generate a more subjective response from each of the research participants. For instance, in question no. 3, the research participants were requested to explain why their mother or their father has more power in controlling their internet usage. Question number 4 purposely asked how their parents influence their use of the Internet when they were young. (Table I – Summary of the Research Survey Questionnaire) Table I – Summary of the Research Survey Questionnaire 1. Do you use the Internet once a day? ___ Yes ___ No 2. Do you agree that parents (both mother and father) have a strong influence on how you use the Internet? ___ Yes ___ No 3. Between your mother and father, who practice more power in controlling your Internet usage? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. How did your parents influence the use of Internet when you were young? __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Most of the students who agreed to participate in the fieldwork are more than 18 years old who no longer live with their parents. In line with this, 7 out of 12 research participants said that they use the Internet each day. When asked whether or not the research participants agree that parents (both mother and father) have a strong influence on how you use the Internet, all of them said ‘yes’. When asked who between their mother or father practice more power in controlling their Internet usage, majority with 58% or 7 out of 12 said that it is their mother who has more control over their Internet usage. Twenty-five percent of the research respondents said that it is their father who has more control over their Internet usage. The remaining 17% of the research respondents said that both their father and mother have an equal power in controlling their Internet usage. When asked why, most of the research respondents explained that their father spends more time at work. This explains why their mothers are the ones who oversee the number of hours they use in front of their personal computers. In the case of the 2 research respondents who said that both their fathers and mothers have equal rights in controlling their Internet usage, both respondents said that both their fathers and mothers are working. Therefore, in case their father is at work, their mother is the one who controls their Internet usage. In case their mother is at work, it is their father who controls their Internet usage.   Number of Respondents Percentage (%) Mother 7 58 Father 3 25 Both 2 17 Total 12 100 When asked how their parents influence the use of Internet when you were young, all 12 participants said that their parents would allocate only 1 to 2 hours each day using the Internet. The only time they are allowed to use the Internet for longer hours is during weekends or when they have no class the next day. Conclusion Both father and mother have a role to play when it comes to disciplining their child. When using the Internet, children between the ages of 1 to 16 can be exposed to violent games, immoralities and wrongful acts. Without the guidance coming from the parents, early exposure to the Internet can endanger the child’s safety. Therefore, one of the most important implications of your findings is that parents should strictly monitor their child’s use of the Internet. Executive Summary Research Question: How do power in relations in the family influence the use of the Internet? Sample: Regardless of gender and nationality, 12 students around 18 years of age were randomly selected for this study. Basically, the term ‘randomly selected’ means that the research participant are unknown to the researchers and were approached only to fulfill the requirements of this study. Criterion used in selecting qualified participants includes students who are currently enrolled at ____ (insert name of your university/school). Methodology: To answer the research question, a combined quantitative and qualitative research survey study was conducted on 12 randomly selected research participants who are currently enrolled in the same school. Basically, the main reason why quantitative and qualitative type of research questions were used in the semi-structured survey questionnaires is to allow us to capture a more generalized and subjective response from each of the research participants. Findings/Analysis: The research findings revealed that 7 out of 12 research participants said that they use the Internet each day and that all of them are being monitored by their parents whenever they use the Internet. In each household, the degree of authoritative power that parents use is highly dependent on their time availability. In case father spends more time at work, it is the mother who is left in-charge of monitoring and controlling their child’s use of the Internet. In case the mother spends more time at work, it is the father who is left in-charge of monitoring and controlling their child’s use of the Internet. It is normal for parents to allocate only 1 to 2 hours each day using the Internet. The only time they are allowed to use the Internet for longer hours is during weekends or when they have no class the next day. References Almeida, Fernando. 2012. "Web 2.0 Technologies and Social Networking Security Fears in Enterprises." (IJACSA) International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications 3(2): 152-156. Thanuskodi, S. 2012. "Awareness of Library 2.0 Applications among Library and Information Science Professionals at Annamalai University, India." International Journal of Library Science 1(5): 75-83. DOI: 10.5923/j.library.20120105.02. Read More