Teenagers, to give them their due, have been leading the way in the use, understanding and indeed construction of the web. Anne Byrne finds out what today's teens are up to online
Music, football, mobile phones, teen mags, fashion, shopping are the stuff of most teenagers' leisure time. . . with the usual gender prejudices shaping the choice.
When EL conducted a straw poll of teenagers from a number of schools around the country, it was no surprise to find that the favourite web sites, for girls, included those focusing on pop stars, celebrities, and ringtones (for mobile phones). Online teen mags, horoscopes and fashion were also popular. Boys tended to stick to their favourite bands, GAA and soccer clubs.
Many teenagers do not have PCs at home, but almost every school now has a computer room. Access is limited in some schools. Others take a more relaxed approach.
Sarah Guildea, a third-year student in St Joseph's, Mercy Convent, Navan, says she doesn't have a computer at home but is allowed to spend an hour at "big break" at school online. "All my friends are into Westlife, so they look at the site. We mostly look at the websites of our favourite bands and at ring tone sites. We also use e-mail a lot."
Transition Year student Niamh Clare, of Rockfort Manor, Dún Laoghaire, says MTV.com is her favourite site. "I have a very big interest in music. MTV offers a wide variety such as pop, rock, rhythm, blues, jazz and urban. . . almost all teenagers like variety in their music and MTV offers immense variety.
"As we all know, nearly every teenager has a mobile phone and MTV offers a selection of ringtones, that you can download and put into your phone. Although it is a music channel, it also provides us with all of the movie news such as the latest releases and big hits," says Niamh.
Robert Hanly, a Transition Year student in St Benildus College, Co Dublin, is a fan of Aston Villa's official website (www.avfc.co.uk). "I'm very interested in football and I'm a bit of a die-hard supporter of the club for the past seven years. This site is not a conventional sports club website and that's what makes it special. It offers exclusive views on the real fans' feelings about certain issues in the club, ranging from criticism of performances to ticket prices. . . you can play games related to the club, download programs for your computer such as screensavers and images. Or simply get the club's anthem as a ringtone for your mobile phone."
Michael Kelly, who is in Transition Year in Cistercian College, Roscrea, says his preferred site is www.ticketmaster.ie. "My two main interests lie in music and sport, so, this website is perfectly suited to my personality.
It shows me all the information about up-and-coming rugby and GAA fixtures. It also gives me the opportunity to purchase tickets (that's where my dad comes in), which saves me the hassle of buying a bus ticket to Dublin and queuing outside Lansdowne Road for half an hour. It is a much easier way to get tickets for big games, because you don't have to be best friends with the president of the IRFU to get to the match."
Michael says he also purchases tickets for live concerts from Ticketmaster. "Most of my friends have similar interests to me, and they would look up pretty much the same material on the internet as I would. Of course, little differences such as favourite bands would occur, but, generally, I would imagine a lot of my age group would avail of this service."
Eibhin McLoughlin is in Transition Year at Loreto Beaufort, Dublin. She says she finds the internet very useful and would usually spend about two or three hours a week on the web. "I use it mostly for e-mailing my friends. If it wasn't for my e-mail address I would have lost contact with friends I have abroad.
"It keeps the telephone bill lower in my house as I can just say what needs to be said and send it instead of an hour-long discussion on the phone. I like to look up different websites like fashion or celebrities and see what's hot and what's not this season. I would use it instead of my mobile when I am out of phone credit, by using the sites where there is free text messages for their users."
When asked about shopping, most teens do not favour the net. This may be because they do not possess credit cards (although, like Michael, they can always try and persuade their parents to part with their plastic). In the US, a concept called an e-wallet is being tried out, in a bid to entice teens to part with their pocket money (or their hard-earned cash) online.
As a parent, here's hoping that teenagers continue to use the internet to save on phone bills, that shopping remains off limits and that they stay away from unsuitable sites. All of the teenagers appeared to be conscious of safety issues, such as not giving out their contact details and none mentioned accessing unsuitable material. But, then they wouldn't, would they?
