Internet, children and youth

In late modernity, ‘self-actualisation is understood in terms of a balance between opportunity and risk’ (Giddens, 1991: 78). For the first generation to fully experience the internet in industrialised countries, negotiating this balance has fast become integral to growing up. Framing this is a story of ‘great expectations’, circulated among both parents and children, and strongly fostered by governments and business. But what fuels these expectations? Are they being realised? What are the real benefits of using the internet? Or the risks?