Week 10 Journal Post

Interview Summary

For this assignment I interviewed my 11-year-old niece who has just entered the sixth grade, and lives in a middle class suburban town in Rhode Island.  Because I live in NYC, we conducted the interview over the phone.  We were actually going to use Skype, but I couldn’t get the software working on my computer.

            I began the interview by asking her to define technology.  She defined technology as,  "a way that people use things to keep in touch, or to keep yourself entertained.”  I then asked her about her internet use and she informed me that she uses the internet for about an hour a day on the weekends, and 10 minutes a day during the week.  At school she estimates that she uses computers for two hours a day.  She listed her favorite websites as Youtube.com to watch videos, and Hoodamath.com to help her with math, an area she struggles in.

            Regarding Facebook and Instagram, she said that she doesn’t use them because her mom doesn’t allow her to, mainly because she doesn’t like the negative things that people can say and show on social media.  She does, however, text her friends using her phone and iPad.  She says she’ll text them briefly to say goodnight, or to ask about homework assignments.

            She informed me that at home she uses a computer, cell phone, iPad, video camera, television, and shares an iPod with her brother, but doesn’t use it that much.  Her favorite electronic device is her video camera.  While in elementary school, the librarian taught her how to make and edit films, and she’s become quite passionate about this hobby.  She now produces her own videos, helps the librarian at her elementary school teach younger students how to make videos, and co-edited a film about bullying for the town that will be appearing online in the next few weeks.

            I asked her if she could remember the last time she went a day without using the internet and she said on the previous day she watched her brother’s hockey game, went shopping, played soccer, made one phone call, and watched a movie, but did not use the internet.

            She informed me that she reads 20 minutes a night, and the books must be print, and not digital because that hurts her eyes.  I also asked her preference between a day outside and a day online, and she chose a day outside.

            Finally I asked her how she might help a classmate who wanted to spend less time online.  She said she would advise her to find a hobby that would allow her to meet people in person in order to make friends that she could then spend time with.

Interview Reflection

            I had a great time interviewing my niece, and I this experience confirmed my belief that adolescents can and should be included in conversations regarding technology.  From this interview I would conclude that my niece is a young adult that has a healthy balance of both the digital and non-digital worlds in her life.  I would, however, argue that this balance is due to external factors of social class, parenting, and environment.  My niece is using technology to create (filmmaking), rather than consume.  This hobby developed because she was in a public school with the resources to teach that skill, and because her parents were able to afford the equipment that allowed the hobby to develop outside of school.  My niece also values playing outside, and that’s because she has parents that have engaged her in physical and social activities at a young age.  Her Internet usage is monitored at home, and once again, this is the result of parenting that has considered both the pros and cons of new technologies.

            This interview indicates efforts on behalf of the home, the community, and the school to ensure adolescents are navigating new technologies in a safe and beneficial way.