Investigation of Elementary School Students' Opinions Related to Unethical Behavior in the Use of Information and Communication Technologies

Abstract

This study is a descriptive study carried out to determine the opinions of elementary school students related to unethical behavior and the causes of these behaviors in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT). For this aim, opinions of students' in regard to unethical behavior and the causes of unethical behavior in the use of information and communication technologies were collected. The working group of the study consisted of 358 students who attend to elementary school during the school year of 2011-2012. Findings indicated that the participants' awareness level was high on the unethical behavior of ICT. According to the results, the causes of unethical behaviors of the elementary school students in the use of ICT were listed as " not having enough knowledge about legal responsibilities, friends' roles, social responsibilities, not having sufficient knowledge about ethics, moral values, family, believing that no one will be impaired, financial status, and religious beliefs". (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.