ICT: does it have a domineering role in a family?

Abstract

The present era has seen vast developments in the field of Information Communication Technology (ICT). Day after day new technological devices are being introduced into the world and they keep having impacts on almost all fields and activities willy-nilly. Technology has reached the hearts and minds of almost all people and become their prime obsession. They are ever on the lookout for what the next innovation is going to be. The ICT gadgets have far-reaching impacts on all aspects of human life. On this basis, a study was carried out to explore how these devices dominate the members of a family in their interactions with one another and their social roles. This research was done in Kattankudy, a densely populated area in Sri Lanka. About 200 number of families were involved in this study and the methods mainly adopted were the semi-structural questionnaire and the focus interview. This research revealed that the ICT gadgets have considerably affected the interactions and relationships among parents, children and spouses leading to the weakness of family bonds and marital relations and resulted in their inability to perform their responsibilities towards the society.