Youth and the Internet: the positives, the challenges and New Zealand developments

On 12 November 2007, the Ministry of Youth Development hosted a seminar by by Dr. Jo Kleeb, Research Fellow, Youth Connectedness Project, Roy McKenzie Centre for the Study of Families, Victoria University of Wellington.

The seminar started with considering the importance of the internet to young people, the positive benefits of internet use for connectedness and potential of this tool for building strength in youth.

Dr Kleeb then moved on to explore key theories/findings and current thinking on ‘types of internet users’. This leads into evaluating three key areas of outcome from year one of the Youth Connectedness Project, with each considered in light of established theory/literature and examined for developmental variation:

  • internet engagement and risky behaviour
  • internet engagement and relationships/wellbeing
  • properties of net friend compared to traditional friend support.
Dr Kleeb then went on to outline their plans to extend data collection in this area and what they hope to achieve by doing so.

She also outlined the work currently being done on this topic by Youth 2007 and Netsafe’s ‘Convergence Generation’ project and evaluated the potential for all three projects to compliment and extend upon each other, producing a knowledge base of value both in New Zealand and abroad.

The seminar finished with an orientation to youth internet safety tools in New Zealand and consideration of the future developments needed in this emergent area.

Jo Kleeb is a lifespan/developmental researcher, awarded a VUW PhD in 2003. In 2004, she started work on the longitudinal Youth Connectedness Project.

More Information

Dr Kleeb’s presentation is available to download under the "Related documents" heading below.

For additional information, email us at mydinfo@myd.govt.nz


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