Wednesday, May 5, 1999

On Line, Students Find Sex, Drugs, and More Than a Little Education, Survey Says By KELLY McCOLLUM College students spend a lot of time using the Internet for schoolwork, but they also go on line to look for pornography and learn how to build bombs and make illegal drugs. In addition, students tend to bend the truth when communicating on line, according to a survey of students at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. "Educators ought to be aware that students are not only using the Internet for education, but they're also using it for a number of other reasons," says the study's author. The study, by Timothy Rumbough, an assistant professor of communications at Bloomsburg, says that about a third of students visit sexually explicit Web sites, 11 per cent visit sites that tell how to make or use illegal drugs, and 8 per cent visit sites that offer information on making illegal weapons. Mr. Rumbough surveyed more than 600 students at Bloomsburg to find out how they use the World-Wide Web, e-mail, on-line chat rooms, and Internet discussion groups. The study stemmed from Mr. Rumbough's interest in computer-mediated communication. His report appears in the spring issue of College & University Media Review. On the positive side, the survey found that 93 per cent of students are using the Net for education. "I'm glad to see a number like that, and I'd like to see it higher," says Mr. Rumbough. "It's clear that students know this stuff so much more than a few years ago." He says that as students grow more accustomed to using computers and the Internet, professors will have an easier time bringing technology into their classrooms. However, says Mr. Rumbough, "I think educators ought to be aware that our students are not only using the Internet for education, but they're also using it for a number of other reasons." It may be no surprise that students are drawn to the Net's seedy side, but Mr. Rumbough says some of his findings should worry professors. For example, 15 per cent of students in his survey admitted having used the Internet to cheat on class assignments. With cheating that common, says Mr. Rumbough, "I think educators need to be a little more careful." Professors need to take steps to prevent that kind of activity, he says. "They just need to be more and more alert." While his survey didn't get into specifics, Mr. Rumbough says he suspects that the students who use the Internet for cheating are turning to on-line term-paper mills. Mr. Rumbough also found that students are often less than truthful when communicating via e-mail and in Internet chat rooms. Of those who use e-mail and chat rooms, only 47 per cent reported that they tell the truth "very often." Thirty-two per cent said they had pretended to be a different person, and 14 per cent had pretended to be a member of the opposite sex. Such lack of truthfulness could put a serious kink in on-line romance, says Mr. Rumbough, but electronic dishonesty can affect on-line classrooms as well. "A student might be more willing to not tell the truth in an on-line class discussion," he says. As for Web sites, about 10 per cent of students have visited sites sponsored by racist groups or cults, and about the same percentage have visited sites that describe how to make or use illegal drugs and weapons. Mr. Rumbough says that doesn't necessarily mean that students are acting on the information they find, however. Many students said they were just curious or had visited the sites by accident. Others were studying the topics for classes. Nonetheless, administrators need to be aware of what students are learning on line. Students who discovered how to manufacture LSD in their dormitory rooms, Mr. Rumbough says, would be a serious concern for campus health officials. But Mr. Rumbough does not advocate trying to block students from finding illicit information on line. "I'm not trying to advocate that there ought to be filtering software to limit these sites," he says. "I don't think that should ever happen at colleges." No matter what they can find on line, "students will still do their work. This is just another diversion," says Mr. Rumbough. "Instead of going out to play football, they'll just surf the Web."