Examination of the interaction between internet addiction and parental attitudes of secondary school students in a risk society: the case of tokat province

The purpose of this research is to examine the interaction between the risk society caused by modernization and various negative consequences, internet addiction and parental attitudes, based on Ulrich Beck's Risk Society theory. The research was conducted on 400 students, 199 girls and 201 boys, who were continuing their secondary school education in the 2024-2025 academic year in Tokat city center. The "Personal Information Form, Parental Attitude Scale, Internet Addiction Scale" were applied to the students who participated in the research. General screening model, one of the quantitative research methods, was used in this study. SPSS 27.0 program was used in the analysis of the obtained data, and Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were applied. The conceptual and theoretical framework of the research includes information about risk society, internet addiction, parental attitudes and adolescence characteristics. It was determined that the internet addiction levels of male students were higher than female students, and no significant difference was found between the genders in terms of parental attitude perceptions. In the study, no significant difference was found between internet addiction and parental attitude perceptions according to class levels. In the study, significant differences were found in terms of internet addiction and parental attitude perceptions with mother's education status. Again, in the study, no significant difference was found in terms of internet addiction and parental attitude perceptions with father's education status. In the study, no significant difference was found between household income status and internet addiction levels, but it was found to have significant effects in terms of parental attitude perceptions. In the study,no significant difference was found in terms of internet possession at home and internet addiction and parental attitude perceptions. The results of this study may contribute to the development of effective prevention programs in the fight against internet addiction for guidance and psychological counseling units in schools. In addition, it can form the basis for family education and the formation of relevant public policies in terms of raising awareness about the effect of parental attitudes on children's digital habits.