Usage of Cell Phones by Children: A Qualitative Research in Turkey

The aim of this research is to specify the ways children use cell phones. The research has been conducted with the qualitative research method. The qualitative method, by definition, aims to "qualify" phenomena and studies. In-depth interview method, one of the most effective data collection techniques, was used and focus group discussions were held for this study. In addition, ethnographic observation studies at homes, as well as informal observation studies at schools were carried out with reference to previous research findings asserting that the ways children use cell phones and their daily lives should be studied as a whole. This research, the findings obtained from which are going to be shared in the following pages, is a qualitative study on how children use cell phones. In theory, the observer sociology, the basic foundation of which is mentioned above briefly, was established through a model that takes reception studies and the "uses and gratifications" approach as references. Although not feeding on political economy theories in the overall, the model, at least at a macro scale, takes socio-economic conditions and the context (in order to establish a correlation between media practices, media utilization and the social and economic conditions of both media and the observer) into account. As to be explained in the "method" section below, the research question and the target population (children between 5-14 years old) were the factors necessitating a qualitative method and ethnographic observations. The primary question intended to be answered in this study is: "what do children do with cell phones?" This study, like all the researches utilizing the qualitative method, aims to provide a qualitative representation that offers a portrayal as comprehensive as possible, instead of a representation consisting of statistics only. Diversity through a minimum sample size involving various types of conflict and the separation of atypical examples are some of the criteria which are regarded when bringing forward a representation that answers the description above. The sampling characteristic of the research, stated in following, verify that Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies Special Issue – September 2016 161 our study has succeeded in achieving this objective. The research has been conducted in the centres of 4 cities; which are Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and Gaziantep. Standard and strategic parameters were used at the stage of selecting the children to be interviewed. These parameters respectively were gender, age range, socio-economic status of the family, number of siblings, job status of the mother and the qualification of the school children are going to (private school/public school; full-time, half-time). The children to be interviewed were selected by the research team, representatives from the professional organizations supporting the study and local executives and educators. The "snowball" method, which can be briefly explained as one in which the interviewee is asked to recommend a relative fitting the criteria of the research, was also employed when deemed necessary. Within the scope of the fieldwork in the city centres of Istanbul, Gaziantep, Ankara and Izmir: 25 focus group discussions (154 children in total) 106 in-depth interviews 8 ethnographic observation studies, totalling 268 meetings and interviews have been carried out. Table 1: SAMPLE DISTRIBUTION CITY (n) 4-9 YEAR OLDS 10-14 YEAR OLDS ISTANBUL 63 32 31 ANKARA 58 17 41 IZMIR 68 28 40 GAZIANTEP 78 46 32


Introduction
The new concept of media involves all mobile communication devices including computer based digital platforms and mobile phones. The changes introduced to communication practices by the information society can be witnessed in a striking way in the utilization of the new media, by children. Using the new media, children can create contents in an online environment, participate in social networks actively, develop their digital game experiences, communicate, make searches and contribute to their education lives. All these varieties in utilization are being analysed under the titles of Mobile Phones/Smart Devices and Computer/Internet utilization.
The rapidly advancing technology has become a part of children's lives just like it has become a part of ours. The mobile phones, in particular, that we can hardly drop, with all their qualities developing each passing day, besides meeting our needs of communication, are also occupying an important place in our lives with their features both entertaining us and rendering access to information possible. As Castelain-Meunier says in the article entitled "Self phones of the students: a paradoxale intimacy tool" the use of self phones is an important point of intersection between public space and private space (2002:233).
In recent years, smart phones have become indispensable devices, especially for the youth.
Their familiarity with technology and their predisposition towards them, give the young the opportunity to use all features of these phones efficiently. They are usually using smart phones to communicate, play games or to reach information. Approximately half (46%) of the children who are between 10-14 years old and have participated in the study, have their own mobile phones. Mobile phones that can be used for a number of activities such as playing games, taking photos, surfing the web and social media, or briefly stated, the smart phones constitute half of this number (19%). In addition, one fourth (25%) of the same group, have their own personal computer (Figure 1). Internet into a part of their domestic, education and social lives and that they even start to develop different ways of using them, beginning from the early ages. To put it more explicitly, it was observed that some of the children, who can easily have access, even approach the situation from a critical perspective and limit the time they spend on the media, through self-control.
It has been ascertained that no audio-visual materials, except the basic tools, are being used in a majority of the public schools. It is also observed that employment of technology in these institutions could be rendered possible only in consequence of the personal initiatives of the teachers and by means of their (own) personal hardware.
It can be seen that parents, educational institutions and teachers have been adopting the same manner in making certain regulations and setting rules and restrictions on using the media.
With this regard, the restrictions on using mobile phones and personal computers or smart devices at schools, aim to encourage children to participate in traditional kid games, informal sports activities or to spend time with others during the recess. Besides giving those who cannot regularly participate in the sports activities the opportunity to involve, this approach also plays the determining role in helping the children to build bridges with their peers and in promoting socialization.
It can be understood by means of this study that, the rules and restrictions determined by the parents or other adults, on children's access to media, is a matter that rather focuses on 'school/homework' and a method employed to limit the time children are allowed to spend on it. Limits and restrictions on contents, on the other hand, are not that much. The reason of this, especially regarding the TV programmes, can be associated to the rules determined by the regulatory body on contents, target audience and airing times, that are considered to be 'satisfactory' by the families. However, what we have witnessed during the field works have shown that the bans imposed to television programmes can easily be flouted by the children, or in other words, that, strict limitations might not always result as expected, but sometimes v ökı might also result in adversity.