Internet Issues: Facts and Figures

Gaining Perspective

Often we are so busy dealing with the issues of our own time, that we lose perspective on the past and how it might relate to us. Consider the following "parenting issues" of the last 100 years summarized by the Children's Partnership: Parents and New Technology: The Last 100 Years    1890's  How can I afford a telephone at home?      1900's  Why do my children know more about automobiles than I do?      1910's  Should I take my children to the moving pictures?      1920's  Why do my children know more about radio than I do?      1930's  Are radio programs too violent?      1940's  Are comic books a bad influence on my kids?      1950's  Is TV good for my child--or not?      1960's  What are my children learning from rock and roll?      1970's  Are TV programs too violent?      1980's  Is my child playing too many video games?      1990's  Is being online safe and beneficial for my child?

Growth of the Internet

Although the advent and growth of the Internet has often been compared to that of television in the 40's and 50's, what makes it substantially different is the pace at which the Internet has grown. In the document entitled "The Emerging Digital Economy," published in April 1998, the U. S. Dept. of Commerce states the following:    "The Internet's pace of adoption eclipses all other technologies that preceded it. Radio was in existence 38 years before 50 million people tuned in; TV took 13 years to reach that benchmark. Sixteen years after the first PC (personal computer) kit came out, 50 million people were using one. Once it was opened to the general public, the Internet crossed that line in four years."

This same document cites the following statistics for Internet usage past and future:    1994  Three million people, most of them in the U.S., used the Internet.    1998  One hundred million people around the world use the Internet.    2005  Some experts believe that one billion people will be using the Internet. For more statistics on Internet and World Wide Web usage, visit the Internet Society (ISOC) - Statistics website.

Impact of the Internet

The following statement appears in the introduction to the report on the Internet Online Summit held in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 1-3, 1997: "The development of the Internet has been called the most profound change in the way we communicate since the invention of the printing press. Users can access an almost limitless array of rewarding content at the click of a mouse. Familiarity with this technology is vital to our children's future." Other observers, such as the publishers of Online Educator, express similar views: "The Internet changes everything. It is overstatement to think that the impact of these changes will be felt fully in a month or in a year. But make no mistake that the widespread use of networked computers marks the birth of a new communication medium that will eventually alter the way we live our lives in as basic a way as did books, photography, radio, and television in the eras they were born."

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Session One Introduction

Facts and Figures

Definitions

Benefits and Risks

Role of Parents

Role of BCPS

Content Evaluation

Session Evaluation

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