| Today's adolescent has been born into a world filled with technology. Adolescents are the most frequent users of technology, and use technology in more ways than their adult counterparts. The literature on adolescent technology use to this point has primarily focused on dangers and risk to adolescents, including physical, emotional and developmental. Purpose: The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the ways that adolescents are using technology in communication and interaction with other people from a strengths based perspective, using qualitative methods to capture the voice and experience of adolescents. Chapter one provides an overview of the topic and an outline for the dissertation. Chapter two provides a review of the literature, both historical and current, on the phenomenon of adolescent technology use. Chapter three focuses on what adolescents are accessing using technology, and how they see this impacting their daily lives and development. Chapter four examines how adolescents are using technology to communicate. Chapter five provides a discussion of the overall findings of the dissertation, with implications for Social Work practice, education, policy and research. Methods: This dissertation is based on a qualitative study that used semi-structured interviewing with 128 middle school students in the Midwest. Results: Adolescent use of technology was universal among the study sample. Adolescents reported a variety of activities involving technology, and discussed the pervasiveness of technology in their everyday lives. Adolescents regularly reported benefits of using technology as well as awareness of potential risks, and confidence in their ability to protect themselves from these risks. Implications: Adolescents value technology and eagerly accept new technologies into their everyday lives. Social Work practice, education, policy and research need to accept the pervasiveness of technology use among this population, and incorporate technology into all levels of work with adolescents and young adults. |
