Parental Influence on Children’s Home Computer Use and Digital Divide in Education

Abstract

This case study compares the data from two se condary schools and attempts to contribute to a better understanding of the construct of parental influence on children‟s information and communication technology use at home. It identifies five components of parental influence: parents‟ information and co mmunication technology (ICT) skills, parental monitoring, parental control, parental guidance and parental worries. The relationships among these components were often complex with intriguing similarities and differences among the participants. The finding s suggest the existence of certain inequalities in education or, as the authors prefer to call it, the digital divide in education.