The effects of computers on children's social development and school participation: Evidence from a randomized control experiment |
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| Institution: | 1. University of California, Santa Cruz and NBER, U.S.A;2. University of Chicago, U.S.A;1. Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, 5th Floor, Encina Hall, 616 Serra Street, Stanford, CA 94305, USA;2. LICOS (Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance), Katholic University of Leuven, De Bériotstraat 34, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium;3. Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 11-A Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, PR China;4. Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 2116 Social Sciences and Humanities, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA;1. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States;4. NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research), Cambridge, MA, United States |
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| Abstract: | Concerns over the perceived negative impacts of computers on social development among children are prevalent but largely uninformed by plausibly causal evidence. We provide the first test of this hypothesis using a large-scale randomized control experiment in which more than one thousand children attending grades 6–10 across 15 different schools and 5 school districts in California were randomly given computers to use at home. Children in the treatment group are more likely to report having a social networking site, but also report spending more time communicating with their friends and interacting with their friends in person. There is no evidence that computer ownership displaces participation in after-school activities such as sports teams or clubs or reduces school participation and engagement. |
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