Blocked sites and offensive videos: the challenges of teen computer use

Teenagers are often presented as comfortable users of technology. To better understand this assumption, we asked 27 teenagers to complete a survey about the previous day's media use; we then interviewed the participants about these entries. The participants actively used computers for information, communication and entertainment. Most of the comments about technology were positive, but our study also revealed problems in the teenagers' computer use. They had stories about parents and teachers restricting their use of the web and there were several instances in which the teens themselves found the web to be offensive, inappropriate and unreliable.