Uses and abuses of ICT in adolescents

Over the last years, the time that an adolescent spends with Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has increased, as well as the possibility to do it without any kind of supervision. Adolescents use ICT in different ways in their every-day life: At school, at home or on the street, not only to do their homework but also to entertain themselves individually or with their friends. This study analyses uses and abuses of ICT in adolescents in their everyday life contexts, focusing on the following Autonomous Communities: Catalonia, Andalusia and Madrid. The study gathered the sample of 1.194 surveys from adolescents between 12 and 18 years old from 31 different educational centres; also, the information was collect from 135 interviews to teachers, students and counsellors, and 5 focus groups. The results highlight the supremacy of smartphones and computers, the wrong usage by 30% of users and the almost absence of control measures on the part of educators and families. Besides, risk behaviours with ICT are more usual in students from post-secondary education, male students and between 15 and 17 years old. Likewise, this data helped to identify frequent activities that educational centres develop regarding this problem, perceptions of users and educators and allowed us to create a guide about uses and abuses of ICT in adolescents and how to address the situation to diminish their risks.