COMPUTER USE BY SCHOOL-AGE-CHILDREN - TRENDS, PATTERNS, AND PREDICTORS

Patterns of computer use are studied based on analysis of data from th e Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY) in which a cohort of stu dents and their parents were surveyed for five consecutive years. Spec ial attention is given to students who were heavier users of computers . Heavier use is associated with high SES as well as superiority in gr ades. Heavier use declined as this cohort progressed from the seventh grade to high school despite increasing access to computers at home. P arents with computers at home reported that their children used comput ers mostly for educational purposes. Males were significantly more lik ely to be heavier users until the 1992 survey when the gap with female s narrowed. A substantial proportion but less than half (42%) of heavi er users remained more frequent users from 1988 to 1992. Analysis sugg ests that computer ownership and parental interest in their children u sing computers exerted the biggest impacts on the likelihood of being a heavier user.