DİJİTAL ÇAĞIN ÇOCUKLARI: İLKÖĞRETİM ÖĞRENCİLERİNİN FACEBOOK KULLANIMLARI ve İNTERNET BAĞIMLILIKLARI ÜZERİNE BİR ARAŞTIRMA

The aim of the present study is to examine secondary school 5th and 6th graders' Internet addiction level and Facebook use in terms of different variables and level of Internet addiction in terms of Facebook use. The model adopted is descriptive survey. The sample comprised 351 5th and 6th graders studying at different schools affiliated with Ministry of National Education (MNE). Four data collection instruments were employed. The first instrument was the Personal Information Form devised by the researchers in order to collect demographic data. The other instruments were "IT Literacy and Technology Use Survey" formed by the researchers in order to determine the participants' IT literacy and technology use, "Facebook Use Status Questionnaire" and "Internet Addiction Test" that was developed by Young (1998) and adapted to Turkish by Bayraktar (2009) and which was found to be reliable and valid in many studies. The instruments were administered to the participants online. The data were analyzed by means of frequency, percentage, ttest, ANOVA statistical techniques at the .05 significance level. The findings revealed that 85.5% of the participants were in the "Non-Addicted" group according to the Internet addiction test scores. On the other hand, it was found that male participants (33.79%) had higher Internet Addiction Scores than that of female participants (17.72%). Similarly, those who had Facebook accounts had higher scores than those who did not have Facebook accounts. In addition, a significant difference was found between frequency of Facebook use and Internet addiction scores. In light of these findings, administration of Internet addiction tests in all schools, identification of students with Internet addiction and cooperation with guidance centers are suggested.