This Master's Thesis presents digital technology, its division, the advantages and disadvantages, what it enables the young to achieve, and what its effects are on the activity and health of children. Since modern media are strongly connected with the use of free time by the young people, this thesis presents the free time, its characterisation, function, purpose, and the connection with modern media. The role of parents is also described, especially in connection with their relationship towards the usage of digital technology in the free time and the shaping of the agreements about its usage. The goal of this thesis was to acquire information on the effect digital technology has on spending their free time actively and the skills to use new technologies to assimilate new knowledge which contribute to a higher quality of life. Furthermore, it aims to ascertain the role of the parents and check if there are differences in the quantity and ways of usage of the digital technology between boys and girls. The data was collected with a survey which was given to pupils of the fifth, sixth, and ninth grades of Elementary School in Kranj. The data was then processed with the SPSS program and Microsoft Excel.
We have found out that pupils spend a great deal of their free time using digital technology, that they spend a lower amount of time outdoors than they could, and that the internet is most often used for entertainment. Moreover, we have determined that most children do not make use of the internet's creative opportunities and that they do not have a sufficient skill set to use the advantages of technology to their benefit. Statistically significant differences between boys and girls are shown in the amount of time pupils spend playing computer games, as boys spend far more time playing them. The results have also shown that another statistically significant discrepancy between boys and girls is the activities which they use the internet for. We have found out that boys use the internet for entertainment more frequently than girls, and that girls use the internet more often to study than boys. What is more, we have determined that parents set the rules and limit the access to digital technology in the majority of pupils.
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