Internet and Displacement Effect: Children's Media Use and Activities in Singapore

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between Internet use and six activities that are important to childhood development: television viewing, newspaper reading, radio listening, sports and physical exercise, interaction with family, and socializing with friends. Perceived importance of the Internet, television, newspaper, and radio as information sources was also included. A panel of 1,251 secondary-one students was surveyed in 1999, and was revisited in 2000. A total of 817 students remained in the 2000 survey, giving an attrition rate of 34.7%. Results showed that an increase in Internet use depressed television viewing, but stimulated newspaper reading, radio listening, and socializing with friends. However, it had no significant impact on physical activities and interaction with family members. Change in the perception of the importance of the Internet as an information source was also found to be related to the perceived importance of two other media sources. Limitations of the study were included in the discussion section.