Informal Education of Adolescents

The present article reveals the concept and the significance of the informal component of educational environment designed for modern adolescents. The authors provide the analysis of Russian and foreign research in the field of adolescents education through their media-consumption; the analysis of gender disparities of self-actualization in the Internet environment. The study presents aspects of positive and negative impact of the Internet on the personal and intellectual development of adolescents, as well as on their socialization and psychological well-being (Internet-addiction). The empirical research identified trends in adolescents’ attitude towards Internet, books and their role in educational process. The results show that adolescents mostly apply to the Internet, books and TV as a source of informal education. The Internet plays a considerable role in the life of adolescents. More than a half of those who took part in the survey spend all their free time surfing the Internet. On the Internet, the adolescents mostly watch foreign movies, read books which have positive feedbacks on forums; they do it both to broaden their horizons and enlarge life experience in general. Through the Internet, adolescents – both girls and boys – make more friends, they more prominently articulate their opinion, and become more tolerant. Only one in ten mentioned the negative impact of the Internet on his/her psychological state