David Smahel, Hana Machackova,
Giovanna Mascheroni, Lenka Dedkova,
Elisabeth Staksrud, Kjartan Ólafsson,
Sonia Livingstone and Uwe Hasebrink
with members of the EU Kids Online network
ISSN 2045-256X
EU Kids
Online 2020
Survey results from 19 countries
| 2 |
Please cite this report as:
Smahel, D., Machackova, H., Mascheroni, G., Dedkova, L., Staksrud, E., Ólafsson, K., Livingstone, S.,
and Hasebrink, U. (2020). EU Kids Online 2020: Survey results from 19 countries. EU Kids Online. Doi:
10.21953/lse.47fdeqj01ofo
EU Kids Online 2020: Survey results from 19 countries. This report maps the internet access, online
practices, skills, online risks and opportunities for children aged 9–16 in Europe. Teams of the EU Kids
Online network collaborated between autumn 2017 and summer 2019 to conduct a major survey of
25,101 children in 19 European countries.
Authors:
David Smahel, Interdisciplinary Research Team on Internet and Society, Masaryk University
Hana Machackova, Interdisciplinary Research Team on Internet and Society, Masaryk University
Giovanna Mascheroni, OssCom, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Lenka Dedkova, Interdisciplinary Research Team on Internet and Society, Masaryk University
Elisabeth Staksrud, Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo
Kjartan Ólafsson, University of Akureyri and University of Oslo
Sonia Livingstone, London School of Economics and Political Science
Uwe Hasebrink, Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut
Authors’ acknowledgements:
This report and the development of a joint comparative dataset was partially supported by the project
FUTURE (GX19-27828X) which is financed by the Czech Science Foundation, and a grant from the
Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security’s Proposition 12 S (2016–2017) Escalation Plan against
Violence and Abuse (2017–2021). The authors acknowledge the support of all members of the EU Kids
Online network. Full acknowledgements for the survey are described in a separate chapter. Thanks also
to members of the Interdisciplinary Research Team on Internet and Society (IRTIS, Masaryk University)
for help with this report.
The EU Kids Online network is a multinational research network. It seeks to enhance knowledge of
European children’s online opportunities, risks and safety. It uses multiple methods to map children’s
and parents’ experiences of the internet, in dialogue with national and European policy stakeholders.
Now working in more than 30 countries, the network integrates research expertise across multiple
disciplines and methods.
For all reports, findings and the technical report of this survey, as well as full details of national partners,
please visit www.eukidsonline.net
| 3 |
Contents
Contents ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... 5
Key findings ................................................................................................................................ 6
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 9
Methodology ........................................................................................................................ 13
How to read the findings ...................................................................................................... 16
Access ....................................................................................................................................... 18
Devices ................................................................................................................................. 18
Time spent online ................................................................................................................. 22
Practices and skills .................................................................................................................... 25
Online activities .................................................................................................................... 25
Digital skills ........................................................................................................................... 35
Risks and opportunities ............................................................................................................ 43
Overall negative online experiences .................................................................................... 45
Online aggression and cyberbullying ................................................................................... 52
Harmful content ................................................................................................................... 61
Data misuse .......................................................................................................................... 69
Excessive internet use .......................................................................................................... 77
Sexting .................................................................................................................................. 82
Seeing sexual images ............................................................................................................ 89
Meeting new people ............................................................................................................ 94
Preference of online communication ................................................................................ 100
Social context ......................................................................................................................... 106
Mediation ........................................................................................................................... 106
Sharenting .......................................................................................................................... 121
Digital ecology .................................................................................................................... 126
Conclusions and policy implications....................................................................................... 131
Interpreting the evidence .................................................................................................. 131
Differences and inequalities within countries ................................................................... 132
Comparisons across countries ........................................................................................... 133
A holistic approach to children’s well-being in a digital world .......................................... 135
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Country profiles ...................................................................................................................... 137
Croatia (HR) ........................................................................................................................ 138
Czech Republic (CZ) ............................................................................................................ 139
Estonia (EE) ......................................................................................................................... 140
Finland (FI) .......................................................................................................................... 141
Flanders – Belgium (VL) ...................................................................................................... 142
France (FR) .......................................................................................................................... 143
Germany (DE) ..................................................................................................................... 144
Italy (IT) ............................................................................................................................... 145
Lithuania (LT) ...................................................................................................................... 146
Malta (MT) .......................................................................................................................... 147
Norway (NO) ....................................................................................................................... 148
Poland (PL) .......................................................................................................................... 149
Portugal (PT) ....................................................................................................................... 150
Romania (RO) ..................................................................................................................... 151
Russian Federation (RU) ..................................................................................................... 152
The Republic of Serbia (RS) ................................................................................................ 153
The Slovak Republic (SK) .................................................................................................... 154
Spain (ES) ............................................................................................................................ 155
Switzerland (CH) ................................................................................................................. 156
| 5 |
Acknowledgements
EU Kids Online members acknowledge the support of the following institutions which enabled the survey to be
carried out in 19 countries. We also thank all the research agencies, teachers and school staff who helped to
administer the survey and helped in the research process, as well as all the children and young people who
participated.
Belgium – Flanders: University of Leuven, Institute for Media Studies.
Croatia: Association for Communication and Media Culture, Agency for Electronic Media of the Republic of Croatia,
Croatian Telecom Inc., City of Zagreb, Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries, Center for Missing and
Exploited Children and Ipsos Puls.
Czech Republic: Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University.
Estonia: For generous financial support: Ministry of Social Affairs, Ministry of Education and Research (from the
European Social Fund), Ministry of Justice, Estonian Internet Foundation, and Institute of Social Studies, University
of Tartu (research projects PUT 44, financed by the Estonian Research Council, and IUT 20-38, financed by the
Ministry of Education and Research); for data collection: Turu-uuringute AS.
Finland: Funded by the Finnish National Audiovisual Institute during 2017-19.
France: OpinionWay with funding from Facebook and support from the International Observatory of Violence in
Schools and the Université Nice Sophia Antipolis.
Germany: UNICEF, Deutsche Telekom Stiftung, Medienpädagogischer Forschungsverbund Südwest and
Niedersächsische Landesmedienanstalt (NLM).
Italy: DG for the Student, Participation and Integration of the Ministry of Education, University and Research
(MIUR) and realised by OssCom- Research Centre on Media and Communication.
Lithuania: Children’s and adolescents’ Internet use in Lithuania: possibilities and risks tendencies in EU context
(No. S-MIP-17-1/LSS-250000-1087, Research Council of Lithuania), Institute of Psychology at Vilnius University.
Malta: Malta Communications Authority, Directorate for Learning and Assessment Programmes, Besmartonline!,
Tech.mt, Commissioner for Children, Foundation for Social Welfare Services, Cybercrime Unit.
Norway: National State Budget 2017-18 under the Ministry of Justice and Public Security’s Proposition 1S (2016-
17) and Proposition 12 S (2016-17) Escalation Plan against Violence and Abuse (2017-21).
Poland: Orange Foundation.
Portugal: DNS.PT Association, for funding the field work, and DGE - Directorate-General for Education, for support
and communication with schools.
Romania: IRES (Institutul Român pentru Evaluare şi Strategie), Institute of Sociology and the Digital Lives.
Research, Education and Intervention platform.
Russia: Russian Science Foundation (Project no. 18-18-00365).
Serbia: Institute of Psychology, University of Belgrade, Department of Media and Communication, University of
Oslo, Norway, Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development in Serbia, Ministry of Trade, Tourism
and Telecommunications in Serbia, OSCE Serbia, UNICEF Serbia, and USAID Serbia.
Slovakia: The Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic within Operational Programme
Human Resources Development 2014-20 ‘Národný projekt Podpora ochrany detí pred násilím’ (ITMS 2014+:
312041M679).
Spain: Spanish Ministry of Economy and Innovation (MINECO) through the project CSO2017- 88431-R. The editing
of the Spanish report was cofunded by the Spanish Cibersecurity Institute (INCIBE) and SIC-SPAIN ‘Safer Internet
Centre Spain’ funded by the EC (CEF-TC-2018-1).
Switzerland: Bundesamt für Sozialversicherungen - Nationale Plattform Jugend und Medien and Pädagogische
Hochschule Schwyz - Institut für Medien und Schule.
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Key findings
This report presents the findings from a survey of
children aged 9–16 from 19 European countries. The
data were collected between autumn 2017 and
summer 2019 from 25,101 children by national teams
from the EU Kids Online network.
A theoretical model and a common methodology to
guide this work was developed during four phases of
the network’s work, and is discussed at the outset of
this report. The main findings from the key topic
areas are summarised, which correspond to the
factors identified in the theoretical model: Access,
Practices and skills, Risks and opportunities, and
Social context.
Throughout the report, findings are presented
according to the countries surveyed, and the gender
and age of the children. The survey findings are
comparable across countries, and the methodology
section presents the common methods followed. We
also note where the methodology varied across
countries: throughout the report, the differences
among countries should be interpreted with caution.
These new findings raise many points to think about.
The last section includes findings from national data
by country, to provide some national
contextualisation, and also to report on findings from
country-specific questions. We conclude by drawing
together the findings from within countries and
across countries, relating these to the theoretical
model. Important research gaps and policy
implications for children’s online opportunities and
risks in Europe are also discussed.
Access
The nature and frequency of children’s internet
access and use shapes their outcomes in a digital
world. For most children across Europe, smartphones
are now the preferred means of going online. This
often means that they have ‘anywhere, anytime’
connectivity, with the majority of children reporting
using their smartphones
daily or almost all the time
.
The findings reveal a substantial increase in both
the proportion of smartphone-using children and
the amount of internet use compared with the EU
Kids Online survey in 2010. The time that children
spend online each day has almost doubled in
many countries – for example, from about one to
three hours per day in Spain, and from about two
to three-and-a-half hours in Norway.
Children aged 15–16 are more likely to use
smartphones daily compared with younger
children, and spend about twice as much time
online than 9- to 11-year-olds.
In some countries, girls are slightly more likely
than boys to access the internet from their
smartphones daily. On most measures of access,
there are few gender differences, except that
overall, boys spend a little longer online than
girls.
As the devices for internet access continue to
change, in most countries less than half of the
children aged 9–16 access the internet through a
desktop computer or notebook. On the other
hand, between 3% and 15% of the children
connect though wearable device and 1% to 18%
via a connected toy.
Practices and skills
Children’s online experiences have changed
considerably over the past decade, with YouTube
becoming increasingly popular, and with national
social networking sites giving way to Instagram
and other prominent apps.
Watching videos, listening to music,
communicating with friends and family, visiting a
social networking site and playing online games
top the list of activities that children do on a daily
basis. Country differences are considerable,
however. For instance, watching videos daily
ranges between 43% of 9- to 16-year-olds in
Slovakia and 82% in Lithuania.
Now that in most of the countries over half of all
of the children use social networking sites at least
weekly, it is perhaps more noteworthy that not all
of the children do so: half of Spanish children and
slightly over 40% of those in France, Germany
and Malta never or hardly ever visit a social
networking site.
Although it is commonly thought that girls
especially favour socialising online, the survey
showed that there are only small or no gender
differences in visiting social networking sites in
most countries (as was also the case for the EU
Kids Online survey in 2010). On the other hand,
playing games is still gendered – in most
countries, around twice as many boys as girls play
games online daily.
Age differences are much greater, in part
reflecting the age limits set by most platforms as
well as the greater interest in online socialising of
older than younger children. Despite these limits,
however, we found that a considerable number
of 9- to 11-year-olds report visiting a social
networking site every day, ranging from 11% in
Germany to 45% in Serbia.
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Older children were asked to report on their
competences regarding several types of digital
skill in the survey. Across the countries, most
children aged 12–16 scored highly on operational
and social skills. Information navigation skills
were found to be uneven across countries, and
particularly low in Switzerland, Germany, Spain,
France and Italy. Countries were also uneven for
creative skills, though in most of them, fewer
than half of the children said they could edit or
make basic changes to online content, for
instance.
Risks and opportunities
The EU Kids Online survey asks children about harm
in general, as they see it, before specific questions
about risky activities are presented to them.
The question asked of 9- to 16-year-olds was
: In
the PAST YEAR, has anything EVER happened
online that bothered or upset you in some way
(e.g., made you feel upset, uncomfortable,
scared or that you shouldn’t have seen it)?
The
proportion of children who said ‘yes’ varied
among countries, ranging from 7% (Slovakia) to
45% (Malta).
In most of the countries, the proportion of
children who said ‘yes’, something online had
bothered or upset them, is smaller than the
proportion in each country who reported the
more common risks, such as sexting or meeting
new people on the internet. This suggests that
not all risk results in self-reported harm to a child.
The proportion of children reporting such a
negative online experience rises with age,
although there are few or no gender differences
in most countries.
Among those children who said they had had a
negative experience online, most said it had
happened a few times, but not frequently.
Number of children who reported that they told
no one about their negative experiences ranges
between 4% (France) and 30% (Estonia). Most
often, children told about the negative experience
a parent or friend or both (rarely did they tell a
teacher or professional whose job it is to help
children).
In addition to telling someone, the children tried
a range of strategies – closing the window or app,
blocking a troublesome person and, for some,
ignoring the problem or even feeling guilty about
what had happened. Between 3% (Italy) and
35% (Poland) of children reported the problem
online.
However, most children said that they usually
knew how to react to the online behaviours of
others they did not like.
The survey asked the children about several kinds of
online activities and experiences that can result in
harm for some children. Some of these activities or
experiences have a greater potential for harm,
whereas some have greater potential for benefit.
In most of the countries, less than 10% of the
children reported being a victim of online bullying
which happened on a monthly basis, while less
than 5% reported bullying others monthly online.
There were no substantial gender differences. Of
those who had been the victim of such behaviour
online, a fifth reported no harm and another fifth
reported intense harm.
The survey asked only older children (12- to 16-
year-olds) about exposure to a range of
potentially harmful content. The majority of
children aged 12–16 in most of the countries have
not seen ways of physically harming or hurting
themselves in the past year online on a monthly
basis. Most, too, have not seen ways to be very
thin on the internet in the past year, although in
some countries, slightly more girls than boys
report seeing such content. However, in the
majority of the countries, the most common of
the potentially harmful content we asked about
was exposure to hate messages – from 4%
(Germany) to 48% (Poland) – with no gender
differences.
The most common experience related to data
misuse is getting a virus or spyware. Also, more
boys than girls reported that they spend too much
money on apps or games; overall, personal data
misuse increases with age.
The survey also asked about excessive internet
use and measured five criteria or this problem.
Few children reported that they have gone
without eating and sleeping because of the
internet daily or weekly, and more children – from
4% (Slovakia) to 21% (Flanders) – have daily or
weekly spent less time with family, friends or
doing schoolwork because of time spent online.
However, the majority of the children in all of the
countries do not experience any of the criteria of
excessive internet use. All five of the criteria of
excessive internet use are experienced by 0% to
2.1% of children.
Exchanging sexual messages (‘sexting’) may be
an opportunity or a risk. Among 12- to 16-year-
olds, the percentage who received a sexual
message in the past year ranged between 8%
(Italy) and 39% (Flanders) – more were older
than younger, but gender differences were minor.
Sending sexual messages is less prevalent than
receiving such messages, ranging between 1%
(France) and 18% (Germany). Such messages
may be wanted or unwanted: when asked about
receiving unwanted sexual requests online, the
findings showed that more girls and older children
experienced such unwanted requests.
| 8 |
The percentage of 9- to 16-year-olds who
reported seeing some kind of sexual image in the
past year ranged from 21% (France) to 50%
(Serbia). Again, more boys and older children saw
these images. The internet was a more common
means of such exposure than traditional media
(television, films, magazines). The largest
proportion of children said seeing such images did
not affect them negatively or positively. In most
countries, the proportion of children who were
happy or fairly or very upset is similar, stressing
the notion that seeing sexual images could be
both a risk and an opportunity. However, more
girls felt upset after this experience.
Between one in four and one in two children have
communicated online with someone they not met
face-to-face before, but fewer – generally around
one in six – have met such a person offline. More
older children and boys interact with unknown
people than younger children or girls, although
few gender differences were found for face-to-
face meetings. Most children reported being
happy after a face-to-face meeting with their
online contacts, again suggesting that this activity
can be an opportunity rather than just a risk.
The majority of the children say they find it easier
to be themselves online at least sometimes. In
some of the countries, boys more often than girls
say this. In about half of the countries, a majority
of children also said they talk about different
things online than offline at least sometimes.
However, the majority of the children in all of the
countries said they never talk about personal
things online that they do not talk about face-to-
face.
Social context
Who supports children as they go online? In most
of the countries, most of the children say that
their parents engage in active mediation at least
sometimes (talk to them, encourage them, help
them and suggest ways to use internet safely). In
previous research such actions have been
associated with higher levels of digital skills and
more online opportunities. However, parents
focus more on encouraging safe use of the
internet than on encouraging children to explore
the opportunities that the internet offers.
Parents are the main source of help when
something bothering or upsetting happens online
to the children. In all of the countries, more than
half of the children say their parents help them at
least sometimes. Friends are reported as sources
of help by a lower number of children. In most of
the countries, teachers are the least commonly
used source of help.
The findings show that in most of the countries,
over four in five children receive advice on safe
internet use from parents, friends or teachers. On
the other hand, in most countries, between one
in ten and one in four young internet users say
that they have never or hardly ever received any
safety advice from parents, teachers or friends.
In most of the countries girls and younger
children more than boys and older children talk to
their parents about their online activities.
Parents are generally preferred as a source of
support, although the children consider that
teachers encourage them to explore and learn
new things online as well as ways to use the
internet safety.
The survey asked about three technological
options parents can use: whether parents use
parental control software that would block or
filter the content on the internet, whether parents
keep track of applications or online activities the
child engages in, and whether parents use any
technology to track the location of the child such
as GPS. In most countries, a minority of children
reported that their parents use any of these
technological controls.
The results show that parents don’t often use
restrictive mediation – only a few children are not
allowed to use webcams, download content or go
on social networking sites. In most of the
countries there are no gender differences in
restrictions on use of social networking sites.
However, younger children more often than older
children are not allowed to use social networking
sites.
Parents are not always a source of support. In
most of the countries, up to a third of the children
said their parents had published something online
about them without asking them. Between 3%
(Lithuania) and 29% (Romania) have asked their
parents to remove things they have published
from the internet.
In all countries, about one in ten children never
feel safe online. More negatively, between 3%
(Norway) and 44% (Spain) of the children never
find other people are kind and helpful on the
internet.
Regarding ‘reverse mediation’, the survey found
that a sizeable minority of children, and in some
countries a majority of children, help often or very
often their parent(s) when they find something
difficult on the internet (ranging between 12% in
Germany and 69% in Serbia). This may indicate
a continuing generation gap, where parents lag
behind their children in digital skills. More
positively, it may suggest that parents are not
afraid to let their children help them, and that
families are sharing the challenge of learning to
manage the digital environment together.
Introduction
About this report
During the past three decades, use of the internet
and digital technologies has become an inextricable
part of the daily lives of European citizens.
Responding to the needs for mapping and
understanding the risks and benefits experienced by
children, the EU Kids Online project conducts robust
international research on children’s use of the
internet and digital technologies (see ‘EU Kids Online
project’).
In this report, we follow up work from the EU Kids
Online 2010, in which the network published an
international report based on a survey taken among
children and parents in 25 European countries
1
.
Following its huge impact on policy and prevention
and intervention efforts at both national and
international levels, our aim is to again provide
crucial information highlighting the patterns of
current technology use and the related positive and
negative experiences of children aged 9–16. To fill
this goal, between autumn 2017 and summer 2019,
with the joint cooperation of teams from the EU Kids
Online network, a survey was carried out among
children in 19 European countries (see Figure 1). It
should be noted that this initiative was solely based
on funding sourced or ensured by each national
team, and we thank all involved members and
contributing parties for their contributions (see
section ‘Acknowledgements’).
The new survey partially followed earlier research
from EU Kids Online 2010. However, in the current
survey and also in this report, we recognised
significant changes that have happened in the past
decade with regard to the digital environment. These
include the rapid proliferation of smartphones and
fast mobile internet resulting in increased access to
internet by mobile phones or tablets
2
. New services
and digital worlds for children have also been
developed, such as Instagram and TikTok.
Consequently, and in line with the development of
1
Livingstone, S., Haddon, L., Görzig, A., & Ólafsson, K.
(2011). Risk and safety on the internet: The perspective
of European children. Full findings from the EU Kids
Online survey of 9-16 year olds and their parents. EU Kids
Online, LSE. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/33731/
2
Mascheroni, G., & Ólafsson, K. (2014). Net Children Go
Mobile: Risks and opportunities (second edition).
Educatt. http://netchildrengomobile.eu/reports/
3
Marsh, J., Plowman, L., Yamada-Rice, D., Bishop, J.,
Lahmar, J., & Scott, F. (2018). Play and creativity in
young children’s use of apps. British Journal of
Educational Technology, 49(5), 870–82.
https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12622
touch-screen devices, children are also using the
internet at earlier ages
3
. On the other hand, policy
and legal actions such as the GDPR (General Data
Protection Regulation) have also responded to these
changes, resulting in the restriction of certain
services. In response to all these changes, this report
provides findings based on wide and robust cross-
culture research. The main goal of this report is to
map the online access, practices, skills and
current risks and opportunities of internet use
among European children.
This report is centred on several areas of interest that
correspond to the theoretical model presented next
in the section Theoretical background of the project.
Multiple chapters with findings cover the topics also
presented in EU Kids Online 2010
4
. In this report, we
specifically describe four main areas: (1) access
(how children access the internet and how much time
they spend there); (2) practices and skills (what
children do online and how skilled they are when
using the internet); (3) risks and opportunities
(the specific activities or experiences that can lead to
harm or to a positive outcome, including overall
negative experiences, online aggression and
cyberbullying, encountering potentially harmful
content, experiencing data misuse, excessive
internet use, sexting, seeing sexual images, meeting
new people online and preference for online
communication); and (4) social context (other
actors who affect children’s engagement with the
internet with specific focus on mediation, sharenting
and children’s perceptions of the online
environment). The last part of the report comprises
country profiles of the 19 countries that
participated in the survey. These highlight the most
interesting findings from the national surveys,
including questions that are not addressed in this
report and more profound analyses of data. The
results in the country profiles may differ slightly from
results in other sections, due to different age groups,
variations in analytic approach, etc.
4
Livingstone, S., Haddon, L., Görzig, A., & Ólafsson, K.
(2011). Risk and safety on the internet: The perspective
of European children. Full findings from the EU Kids
Online survey of 9-16 year olds and their parents. EU Kids
Online, LSE. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/33731/
| 10 |
All findings are based on the questionnaire developed
by members of the EU Kids Online network in
cooperation with members of the Global Kids
Online network (see www.globalkidsonline.net). As
noted above, although the questionnaire was
adapted from the 2010 version, changes were made
to reflect changes in the digital environment, which
limits direct comparison between the two projects
(see below ‘How to read the findings’). In this report,
we focus only on the basic descriptive results of the
core questions of this survey, i.e., questions that
were intended to be used in each and every country
and cover areas that are of the greatest interest for
all parties. However, interested readers are invited to
read the upcoming short reports that will go into
more depth in selected areas and also cover several
topics that have not been included in this report
(such as the cyberhate phenomenon). These reports
will be available on the EU Kids Online website
(www.eukidsonline.net). Readers of this report may
also be interested to read the Global Kids Online
report
5
, which maps internet use by children in 11
countries worldwide.
Figure 1: Countries participated in the survey
(in red).
Thus, the findings provided in this report cover the
main topics that are of academic, policy and public
debate in relation to children’s use of technology.
These are presented within each country
participating in the survey. It should be noted that
because of the absence of a central funding body,
the methodology used varied between countries.
Readers are strongly urged to read ‘How to read the
5
Livingstone, S., Kardefelt Winther, D., & Hussein, M., &
UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti. (2019). Global
Kids Online: Comparative Report. UNICEF Office of
Research – Innocenti. https://www.unicef-
irc.org/publications/1059-global-kids-online-
comparative-report.html
findings’ to gain the necessary background to be able
to interpret correctly the presented findings. For
parsimony, this report also focuses predominantly
only on age and gender differences, with
examination of other links pursued in the short
reports.
This report is intended to be of access and use for a
broad audience. This includes academics, who can
use the report to understand the global picture of
different opportunities and risks in various countries
and in further research. Stakeholders and policy-
makers could use the report to plan future steps. The
report may also help organisations that are carrying
out preventive and intervention programmes for
children, such as the Safer Internet network (see
www.betterinternetforkids.eu). Last, but not least,
the report may also be interesting to parents striving
to gain a better insight into their children’s
technology use and to get a broader picture about
the issues being debated, such as those concerning
online risks. To summarise, we believe that this
report will be interesting and beneficial for anyone
who would like to know more about children’s risks
and opportunities in internet use.
EU Kids Online project
EU Kids Online is a multinational research network. It
seeks to enhance the knowledge of European
children’s online opportunities, risks and safety. It
uses multiple methods to map children’s and parents’
experiences of the internet, in dialogue with national
and European policy stakeholders. Founded in 2006
by Sonia Livingstone and Leslie Haddon (London
School of Economics and Political Science, hereafter
LSE), EU Kids Online is established as the primary
source of high-quality, independent and
comprehensive evidence underpinning a better and
safer internet for children in Europe. Now working in
more than 30 countries, the network integrates
research expertise across multiple disciplines and
methods. It has built constructive relationships with
governments, media, industry, policy-makers,
educators and practitioners at national, European
and international levels. Its findings and reports are
widely referred to in policy statements, having guided
numerous initiatives to improve children’s online
experiences.
The network’s organisational structure is rather
informal and builds on the close cooperation and
mutual trust of all members. The countries involved
include all EU member states as well as Iceland,
Israel, Norway, Russia, Serbia, Switzerland and
Turkey. There is one national coordinator for each
country who coordinates the respective national
| 11 |
team. The whole network is coordinated by a
Management Group, with Uwe Hasebrink and Claudia
Lampert (Germany), Leen d’Haenens (Belgium),
Sonia Livingstone (UK), Giovanna Mascheroni (Italy),
Kjartan Ólafsson (Iceland), Brian O’Neill (Ireland),
Cristina Ponte (Portugal), David Smahel (Czech
Republic) and Elisabeth Staksrud (Norway).
From 2006 until 2014, the network was funded by
the European Commission’s Better Internet for Kids
programme. After that, given the accumulated
expertise of the network and its eminent role as an
actor providing solid empirical evidence for
multistakeholder processes on the European as well
as on the national level, the network members
decided to continue their collaboration and to
develop new cooperative projects. Among others, the
network members were involved in the establishment
of Global Kids Online (see globalkidsonline.net), in an
effort to map the implementation of Better Internet
for Kids policies in Europe. In 2019 the network
successfully proposed a project ‘Children Online:
Research and Evidence’ (CORE) within the HORIZON
2020 framework. In the years 2020–22 this project
will conceptualise, implement and disseminate a
comprehensive knowledge base on the impact of
technological transformations on children and young
people.
From 2017 to 2019, the network designed a second
representative survey of children and online risks and
opportunities. Based on the enthusiasm and
engagement of the national teams and the generous
support of different sources of national funding (see
‘Acknowledgements’), the network succeeded in
conducting surveys in 19 European countries. This
report presents the findings of this new survey (see
‘About this report’).
Theoretical background of the
project
The approach of the EU Kids Online network to the
research field is holistic, and we draw from the
competences and expertise of researchers from
many academic disciplines, including, but not limited
to, media and communication, psychology, sociology,
education, history and political science. While we
differ in and employ a wide range of theoretical
concepts and research methods, we are united in our
focus on conceptual clarification, mapping and
collecting new evidence and debunking myths. In this
we emphasise the value of systematic research-
based documentation and mapping the role the
internet, mobile phones and computer games play in
children’s lives. This is to inform not only the wider
research community, but also the public and policy-
makers, enabling informed debates and decisions
6
Livingstone, S., Mascheroni, G., & Staksrud, E. (2018).
European research on children’s internet use: Assessing
the past and anticipating the future. New Media &
Society, 20(3), 1103–22.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816685930
about what the risk and opportunities of children’s
online engagements, and how this influences their
rights and well-being.
In this report we work with a theoretical-analytical
model that considers individual, social level and
national factors
6
. The model serves as a basic
roadmap showing the various factors influencing
children’s online experiences, and the impact of these
experiences on children’s well-being.
The model (see
Figure 2), inspired by Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological
Systems Theory
7
, builds on the existing evidence
about children and online media. When designing our
questionnaire for the this survey, our aim was to
include questions that would enable us to seek a
deeper understanding of how children’s engagement
with the internet is dependent on individual factors,
including age and gender, their socioeconomic and
cultural background, personality traits, disabilities,
opportunities to access the internet, level of different
types of skills and how they use the internet. This
includes how general psychological well-being, such
as feelings of safety and belonging, is linked to
(digital) well-being. On a social level we see that not
only parents but also extended family with siblings
and grandparents can play a role in the likelihood of
an online experience being something leading to
harm or something that the child has the skills to
cope with and move on from. We also seek to
understand the role and influence of peers, educators
(such as, but not limited to teachers), and the larger
community to which children belong. And
importantly, we include the concept of ‘digital
ecology’, the influence that may come for the
technologically mediated communication children
experience online, such as visiting online
communities, multiplayer online games or other
virtual environments. The perception of these online
environments is crucial because it shapes children’s
online behaviours.
It should be noted that because of the complexity of
the model, it is not possible to encompass findings
related to all the mentioned areas in one report.
Therefore, in this report, we present only selected
findings related to access, practices and skills,
opportunities and risks and social context, and
consider the effects of gender and age (see ‘About
this report’). Further topics will be pursued in the
upcoming short reports.
Finally, we include what we call ‘country-level
mediators/moderators’, recognising how societal
stratification, regulation, infrastructure, education
and values in a country can play a role in mediating
the outcomes of well-being. Recognising how the
7
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human
development: Experiments by design and nature.
Harvard University Press.
| 12 |
internet is now something that is integrated into most
children’s lives, used for information-seeking,
communication, learning and socialising, our model
seeks to shift the agenda from how children engage
with the internet as a medium to how they engage
with the world mediated by the internet. This shift is
what enables us to foreground children’s agency, and
to adopt a child-centred approach that
simultaneously contextualises children’s internet use
in particular countries or contexts of childhood,
assumes the interconnections between risks and
opportunities as a starting point, and is aimed at
designing research and policy that respects children’s
lives holistically and at eschewing moral panics in
favour of the contribution of rigorous theory and
evidence.
For a more detailed explanation of our analytical
framework and how European research in the area
of children and the internet has developed over the
past two decades, please read the relevant article by
Livingstone et al
8
.
Figure 2: The EU Kids Online theoretical model.
8
Livingstone, S., Mascheroni, G., & Staksrud, E. (2018).
European research on children’s internet use: Assessing
the past and anticipating the future. New Media &
Society, 20(3), 1103–22.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816685930
| 13 |
Methodology
This report is based on findings from surveys
conducted in 19 European countries focused on
internet users aged 9-17 (see
Table 1), with a total of 25,101 participants. The data
were collected between autumn 2017 and summer
2019. In this report, we present findings from a
subsample of 21,964 children aged 9-16.
In this section, we summarise the most important
aspects of the methods used in the survey
preparation and data collection. Full details of the
project methodology, materials, fieldwork, data
management and research ethics are available in the
Technical report of the EU Kids Online IV project at
www.eukidsonline.net.
The questionnaire
The full master questionnaire in English and also its
national translations are available at
www.eukidsonline.net. The questionnaire is based on
the tool used in the EU Kids Online survey in 2010
9
and the Global Kids Online survey
10
that were
thoroughly adjusted to correspond to the current
state of technology and patterns of internet use. The
development of the new questionnaire was based on
the co-operation and expertise of members of the EU
Kids Online network, led by Professor Elisabeth
Staksrud (University of Oslo, Norway) and researcher
Kjartan Ólafsson (University of Akureyri, Iceland).
Researchers as well as stakeholders were invited to
participate in the process.
The questionnaire includes two types of questions –
core questions, which represent the main focus of
this survey, and optional questions that inquired into
selected topics in more depth or asked about
additional issues. The countries were instructed to
use all the core questions and to choose from the
optional questions in line with their preferences. The
findings presented in this report are from the core
questions only.
Considering the length of the questionnaire, and the
complex and sensitive nature of some items, in most
countries (except Spain, Finland, Croatia, France, and
Flanders) the questionnaire was distributed in two
forms: a full version for older children and a shorter
version for younger children (9–10). In the master
questionnaire, it was proposed that a block of
questions be excluded from the version for younger
children; however, each country had the option to
decide itself which questions should not be asked of
younger children.
9
see www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-
communications/research/research-projects/eu-kids-
online/toolkit/survey-questionnaires
10
see www.globalkidsonline.net/tools/survey/
The translation of the questionnaire was coordinated
and supervised by expert members of the EU Kids
Online within each country. In several countries
(Czech Republic, Estonia, Italy, Lithuania and
Switzerland), cognitive testing was conducted to
assure the comprehensibility of the questionnaire
and its national translation.
Sampling and population
The target survey population were children aged 9–
17 who use the internet. However, several countries
did not collect data from 17-year-olds. To maximise
the number of countries and the comparability of the
overall findings, we thus only analyse data from
children aged 9–16 in this report.
Two sampling methods were recommended:
sampling via households and via schools. Each
participating country selected the method depending
on available resources and country and cultural
context. The following criteria were proposed to
provide the best combination of representativeness
and viability: the age of the child, the gender of the
child, region (usually NUTS2) and urban/rural areas.
The application of these criteria was tailored to the
national context to provide data that would be
representative of the targeted population.
Variants of household sampling include random walk,
quota sampling and random recruitment/selection of
households from a specific register. Countries that
used household sampling were Croatia, Estonia,
France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Russia
and Slovakia (9 countries). The sampling and data
collection in France was carried by using the online
panel of the agency OpinionWay.
For sampling via schools, the guidelines defined for
ESPAD 2015 (i.e., the European School Survey
Project on Alcohol and other Drugs) were
recommended. The general target population was
defined as students aged 9 to 17 who were present
in the classroom on the day of the survey. Students
enrolled in regular, vocational, general and academic
studies were included. Those who were enrolled in
either special schools or special classes for students
with learning disorders or severe physical disabilities
were not included. Countries that used school
sampling were the Czech Republic, Finland, Flanders,
Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain and
Switzerland (10 countries).
Three countries, Belgium, Finland and Russia, used
specific sampling that also precluded the weighting
options. Data from Belgium were designed to reflect
only pupils from the Flanders region (thus the Belgian
contribution for this survey is referred to as Flanders)
while also excluding Brussels. Moreover, urban and
regional profiles of surveyed schools differ from the
| 14 |
distributions in population. In Finland, the final
sample deviates from population distributions of both
the age and region. In Russia, the survey only took
place in larger cities, unrepresentative of the regional
distributions of the population. These countries also
excluded younger children from the survey (age 9–
11). Consequently, the data from these countries are
not weighted and the comparability of the findings
must be interpreted with regard to this limitation.
Fieldwork
The data collection by trained administrators was
conducted by professional agencies, affiliated
institute, or by national teams (
Table 1). In all countries, the administration of the
questionnaire strived to minimise bias due to
interview conditions. This included consideration of
bias caused by the feeling of non-anonymity of the
participant, which should be diminished by obligation
to ensure the participant’s anonymity as much as
possible and protection from the influence of outside
sources (in households these could generally mean
the presence and influence of parents/family, in
schools, of teachers or other students).
Most countries using the household sampling method
also used some form of incentives (except for
Germany, Lithuania and Russia). The individual
nature of the incentive ranged from a symbolic gift
serving as a thank you to monetary compensation for
time provided.
Table 1: Overview of the fieldwork.
Country
Place of
interview
Fieldwork
Method of
interview
Survey carried out by
In 2010
survey
CH
Switzerland
School
10/2018 to 01/2019
PAPI
GFS Zürich agency
No
CZ
Czech
Republic
School
10/2017 to 02/2018
CASI/CAWI
CZ EU Kids Online team
Yes
DE
Germany
Household
06/2019 to 07/2019
CASI/CAWI
Ipsos agency
Yes
EE
Estonia
Household
05/2018 to 07/2018
CASI/CAWI
Turu-uuringute AS agency
Yes
ES
Spain
School
10/2018 to 12/2018
PAPI
CPS Estudios de Mercado y
Opinión agency
Yes
FI
Finland
School
01/2019 to 04/2019
CASI/CAWI
FI EU Kids Online team
Yes
FR
France
Online survey
05/2018 to 06/2018
CASI/CAWI
OpinionWay agency
Yes
HR
Croatia
Household
09/2017 to 10/2017
CAPI
Ipsos Puls agency
No
IT
Italy
Household
11/2017 to 12/2017
CAPI
Ipsos agency
Yes
LT
Lithuania
Household
01/2018 to 05/2018
CAPI
Spinter research agency
Yes
MT
Malta
School
03/2018 to 05/2018
PAPI
MT EU Kids Online team and
Personal, Social and Career
Development (PSCD) educators
No
NO
Norway
Household
06/2018 to 10/2018
CASI/CAWI
Ipsos agency
Yes
PL
Poland
School
05/2018 to 06/2018
CASI/CAWI
Edbad agency
Yes
PT
Portugal
School
03/2018 to 07/2018
CASI/CAWI
Intercampus SA agency
Yes
RO
Romania
School
04/2018 to 04/2019
CASI/CAWI
The Romanian Institute for
Evaluation and Strategy (IRES)
Yes
RS
Serbia
School
11/2018 to 01/2019
PAPI
RS EU Kids Online team
No
RU
Russia
Household
09/2018 to 10/2018
CAPI
RU EU Kids Online team
No
SK
Slovakia
Household
04/2018 to 06/2018
CAPI
Kantar Slovakia agency
No
VL
Flanders
School
03/2018 to 11/2018
CASI/CAWI
The Institute for Mediastudies at
the KU Leuven
*Yes
* In the EU Kids Online 2010 survey all regions in Belgium were included.
The data were collected via three base methods:
CASI/CAWI (computer-assisted self-
interviewing/computer-assisted web
interviewing), in which interviewed children filled
in the questionnaire on their own in the
tablets/notebooks/computers while instructed by
trained interviewers. The exception for this was
France, where the children filled in their
responses alone on their household computers.
CAPI (computer-assisted personal interviewing),
in which interviewers asked the children each
question and marked the answer using an
electronic tool. The children were handed the
data-collecting tool in cases where the national
| 15 |
research team deemed some questions to be too
sensitive.
PAPI (paper-assisted personal interviewing), in
which the children were handed paper versions of
the questionnaire to fill in during interviews, in
the presence of trained administrators. This
method was used mostly in countries that used
school sampling for their survey.
See
Table 1 for the overview of used methods.
Ethical aspects
In all countries, the administration of the
questionnaire followed base ethical guidelines,
adhering to the national rules and conditions. Before
the questionnaire was introduced, informed consent
of the legal representatives and written or oral
consent from the child was obtained. Children were
guaranteed anonymity and were given the
opportunity to choose the option I don’t know or
Prefer not to say for each of the questions, or they
were allowed to skip any of the questions. For this
reason, the number of participants providing answers
to individual questions varies. During the data
collection, special effort was made to provide
comfortable conditions for the participants. This
included maximising the anonymity of the
participants and limiting interference from other
parties.
Limitations
The findings presented in this report should be
interpreted with regard to several limitations that
relate to the nature of the data as well as their
depiction in the text, figures and tables.
Base limitation relates to the cross-sectional
nature of the study, which in most cases
precludes causal inferences.
Moreover, the data are self-reported, and
possible error and bias due to social desirability
or trouble with recall should be considered.
The variations in methodology also pose a
limitation. As described above, the countries used
both school- and household-based sampling and
data collection. Comparisons of differently
sampled data should be done with caution.
In household data collection, the parent/carer
could be present during the interview. This might
have an influence on the answers the children
provided. In data collection in a classroom
context, the administration was conducted with
regard to whole group and not with individual
participants. Nevertheless, in each country,
precautions were taken to ensure the most
comfortable conditions for the children to be able
to provide honest answers.
Data Analysis
The data used for analyses were weighted, with
the exception of data from Flanders, Finland and
Russia (see the description of sampling above).
The weights for each country were prepared
individually. They were created using the criteria
of gender, age and region (or other additional
criteria, such as schools type, if applicable).
Weighting is a statistician correction technique
that we used to improve the accuracy of the
survey estimates according to a representative
population of the relevant country.
The results in this report were computed from
valid data only. However, the data also included
several types of missing data (including the
options Don’t know and Prefer not to say), shares
of which differed across countries and also across
different questions. All types of the missing data
were excluded from the analyses.
In some countries, the definition of younger
children differed from the recommended one
(i.e., 9–10). To account for country differences in
this regard, we define the youngest category as
consisting of children aged 9–11, followed by
children aged 12–14, and the oldest age category
comprising children aged 15–16.
| 16 |
How to read the
findings
This section helps readers to understand the findings,
their presentation, and their interpretation.
How to approach comparisons
In this report, the main focus is on the findings of
each individual country and less on comparison
between the countries.
As described in the ‘Methodology’, this varied
across countries, which contributes to variations
in the children’s answers across the countries.
Therefore, the differences between countries
must be interpreted with caution.
If readers want to directly compare two or more
different countries, we recommend looking at the
methods and sampling used in the respective
countries (see
Table 1).
In line with Cohen’s recommendation for
interpretation of effect sizes
11
, in this report we
considered the differences equal or below 5
percentage points as negligible, the differences
between 6–15 percentage points as small, 16–25
as medium, and higher as large.
While the prevalences are described by
percentages (%), the differences between two
percentages are described by percentage points
(i.e., arithmetical difference between two
percentages).
The smaller the prevalence of a phenomenon, the
more caution we advise when evaluating the
country, gender and age differences. This applies
especially for phenomena with prevalences under
10% (such as online risks).
In the figures and tables in the report, we provide
an average that is computed from the displayed
percentages (Ave). This can be used to compare
results across gender and age, or to compare the
prevalence of different items. However, this
average is ‘the mean of means’ and not the data
average or the European average. We
recommend not comparing country results
against the average.
11
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the
Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed.). Routledge.
12
Livingstone, S., Haddon, L., Görzig, A., & Ólafsson, K.
(2011). Risk and safety on the internet: The perspective
of European children. Full findings from the EU Kids
Online survey of 9-16 year olds and their parents. EU Kids
Online, LSE. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/33731/
All of the data are weighted. The exceptions are
data from Flanders, Finland and Russia, which
were not weighted because of the specific
sampling (see ‘Methodology’). We recommend
great caution in comparing these countries to
other countries.
Note that due to rounding the sum of numbers in
certain graphs might add up to between 99% and
101%.
Which data are presented
In some figures and tables, data from certain
countries are omitted (such countries are denoted
by an asterisk). This was done if the country did
not ask any respective questions or the question
was asked only of a subset of children that was
different than in the other countries.
If a sufficient amount of data was not available
for younger children, the countries were not
included in the presentation of overall findings
across the countries and in the gender
comparison. The available data is, however,
presented in findings depicting age differences.
Across the whole report, due to absent data
from younger children, Flanders, Finland
and Russia are omitted from overall
findings across countries and the gender
comparison. Other countries are omitted
depending on their choice of specific design of
shorter versions of the questionnaire for younger
children.
Comparison with EU Kids Online
2010
Possibilities for direct comparison with EU Kids
Online 2010, both the data and most reports
published from these data (including the key
report from 2011
12
are limited for several reasons:
Sampling and data collection: the sampling
and data collection method in all countries was
not the same in the EU Kids Online 2010 survey.
Questionnaire: the questionnaire was
thoroughly updated and the wording of many
questions and answers changed to better fit the
current situation and trends in technology
development.
Participating countries: from 19 countries in
this report, only 12 comparable countries
| 17 |
participated in both the EU Kids Online 2010 and
in this survey (Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland,
France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain). Belgium
also participated in 2010, but in the current
survey, only the data was only collected in
Flanders, thus the comparison is not possible.
Age categories: the age categories used in this
report are different than those used in EU Kids
Online 2010. In this report, we created the age
categories 9–11, 12–14 and 15–16, while in the
report from EU Kids Online 2010, the age
categories were 9–10, 11–12, 13–14 and 15–16;
also data intended only for older children were
presented for 12-year-olds and older, unlike in
the prior report (where it was 11-year-olds and
older).
As a result, we do not recommend directly comparing
the findings from the EU Kids Online 2010 survey
with findings provided here.
Whenever comparisons were possible, we provide
them in this report. The comparisons in this
report are based on new analyses that include
only countries that participated in both
surveys and with analogous age groups. Still,
changes in methodology must be considered.
Access
As described in ‘Theoretical background of the
project’, EU Kids Online work is based on the model
that helps to identify the outcomes of technology use
on children’s lives, and which factors influence these
outcomes. The description of the main findings from
this EU Kids Online survey thus starts with the basic
precondition of this overreaching aim: in essence, in
order to examine the effect of internet use, children
first have to use it. Hence, we first focus on the
children’s access to technology, specifically on how
they go online (which devices they use) and how
much time they spend online. These two basic
technology usage factors frame children’s online
practices and inevitably shape their online
experiences (see Figure 3).
Figure 3: Theoretical model - this section
focuses on Access (in red).
Devices
Internet access shapes the conditions under which
children are taking advantage of online opportunities
or are exposed to online risks. A major shift in the
way children access the internet was represented by
smartphones, with their use already widespread
among 9- to 16-year-olds in 2013–14
13
. Being
personal and portable, smartphones are now
integrated into different social contexts and activities.
With the more recent rise of the Internet of Things
and the Internet of Toys
14
, the internet has become
13
Mascheroni, G. & Ólafsson, K. (2014). Net Children Go
Mobile: Risks and opportunities. Milano: Educatt.
Retrieved from: www.netchildrengomobile.eu/reports
14
Mascheroni, G., & Holloway, D. (Eds.). (2019). The
Internet of Toys. Practices, Affordances and the Political
Economy of Children’s Smart Play. Palgrave Macmillan.
more and more ubiquitously embedded in children’s
everyday lives. For this reason, EU Kids Online
recommends that we do not focus on a separation
between an online world and ‘the real world’, but
instead look at how our world and our relationships
to other people are mediated through the internet
15
.
To investigate children’s access to the internet, we
asked the children the following question:
How often do you go online or use the internet using
the following devices?
Children in all of the countries answered this question
about use of: a smartphone or mobile phone; a
desktop computer, laptop or notebook; a tablet;
other. Some countries also included optional
questions about new technologies – a games
console; TV; a toy connected to the internet;
a wearable device – which we also decided to include
in this report. The results about daily use of all said
technologies are summarised in Table 2.
Smartphones are always at hand, providing an
‘anywhere, anytime’ connectivity, at least in
principle. It comes as no surprise, then, that the
phone is the most frequently used device to go
online. Indeed, if we look at the frequencies
through which children access the internet from
their phones, the majority report using their
smartphones almost all the time,
several times
each day
or at least
daily
, although this ranges
between 65% (France) and 89% (Lithuania)
(Table 2).
In 11 countries (Croatia, Czech Republic,
Germany, Estonia, Italy, Lithuania, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Romania and Serbia), over 80%
of children aged 9–16 use a smartphone to access
the internet at least once a day.
In 2010, the number of children going online from
their mobile phones ranged from 31% (Norway)
to only 2% (Romania). From the EU Kids Online
survey 2010, the percentage of children using a
phone or smartphone to access the internet in all
comparable countries has increased substantially,
rising from 31% to 86% in Norway and from 2%
to 86% in Romania.
15
Livingstone, S., Mascheroni, G. & Staksrud, E. (2018).
European research on children’s internet use: Assessing
the past and anticipating the future. New Media &
Society, 20(3), 1103–22.
Child
well-being
and rights
SOCIAL LEVEL
COUNTRY LEVEL
O
N
L
I
N
E
Family
Educators
Culture, media
and values
Education and
knowledge
Technology provision
and regulation
Societal inclusion
(inequality, welfare)
Children
INDIVIDUAL LEVEL
Child identity
and resources
A
c
c
e
s
s
Peers
Community
Digital ecology
| 19 |
Computer (laptop or desktop) is used on a daily
basis by a number of children ranging from
between 26% (Switzerland) and 66% (Lithuania).
The difference in the likelihood of accessing the
internet from a smartphone and a computer
ranges between 19 percentage points (Malta) and
47 (Portugal). In nine countries (Switzerland,
Estonia, Spain, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal,
Romania, and Serbia), the difference is very close
or above 40 percentage points, showing that the
gap in popularity of these two devices is
considerably wide.
The daily use of tablets varies between 14%
(Poland) and 43% (Malta). Indeed, in most of the
countries less than one in four of the children
access the internet from a tablet
every day
.
In some countries, Smart TVs are more popular
than tablets (or even computers) – ranging
between 17% (Italy) and 75% (Spain) – whereas
the use of a games console as a means to access
the internet on a daily basis varies between 5%
(Slovakia) and 34% (Malta).
Finally, the number of children who connect to
the internet everyday using a smart toy ranges
between 0.4% (Serbia) and 18% (France),
whereas the use of wearable devices varies
between 3% (Croatia and Italy) and 15% (Spain).
For the majority of the
children, smartphones are
now the preferred means of
‘going online’.
Table 2: Daily use of different devices, by country.
A
smartphone
or mobile
phone
A desktop
computer,
laptop or
notebook
A tablet
A games
console
TV
A toy
connected to
the internet
A wearable
device
Other
CH
70
26
20
21
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
17
CZ
82
43
18
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
20
DE
85
46
16
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
8
EE
87
41
16
13
50
9
8
9
ES
76
29
28
30
75
6
15
15
*FI
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
FR
65
41
31
26
47
18
13
6
HR
82
52
17
10
20
4
3
4
IT
80
39
20
14
17
3
2
LT
89
66
20
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
26
MT
77
58
43
34
48
11
14
15
NO
86
44
33
26
46
2
10
9
PL
83
40
14
14
59
2
8
8
PT
84
37
27
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
28
RO
86
41
19
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
RS
86
40
15
11
61
0
8
13
*RU
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
SK
70
43
24
5
21
1
6
n.a.
*VL
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Ave
80
43
22
19
44
6
9
13
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. n.a.: Optional questions, not included in the questionnaire.
QB5 How often do you go online or use the internet using the following devices? Percentage of children who answered
almost all
the time, several times each day
, or
daily or almost daily
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
| 20 |
Online on the mobile
Across the countries more than half of the
children report using their smartphones or mobile
phones
daily or almost daily
,
several times a day
or
all the time
(Ave = 57%), although this ranges
between 39% in Slovakia and 71% in Norway
(Figure 4).
Only a minority of children reportedly access the
internet from their smartphones or mobile phones
less often than daily or almost daily, ranging
between 11% of Lithuanian children and 35% in
France (Ave = 20%).
Figure 4: Frequency of using a smartphone to
access the internet, by country.
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QB5a How often do you go online or use the internet using
the following devices? A mobile phone or smartphone.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
As shown in
Figure 5 and in Figure 6, in many countries the use
of smartphones to go online several times a day is
differentiated by age and partially by gender.
The number of children who are online from their
Figure 5: Using a smartphone several times
each day or all the time to access the internet,
by gender.
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QB5a How often do you go online or use the internet using
the following devices? A mobile phone or smartphone.
Percentage of children who answered
daily or almost daily,
several times a day
or
all the time.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
smartphones always or several times a day varies
between 35% and 68% for boys, and between
42% and 75% for girls.
In Estonia, France, Malta, Norway, Poland,
Portugal, Serbia and Slovakia, girls are slightly
more likely to access the internet from their
smartphones several times a day than boys with
percentage points difference ranging between 6
(Estonia) and 11 (Malta).
In Portugal and Malta, the difference is about 10
percentage points.
57
39
67
63
58
55
71
59
68
56
46
43
55
57
63
59
54
23
32
18
24
26
28
15
18
21
23
36
22
20
29
22
23
16
20
30
14
14
17
17
15
23
11
20
18
35
25
14
15
18
30
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Several times each day or all the time
% Daily or almost daily
% Less often
59
42
72
61
63
59
75
65
69
58
47
46
55
60
64
60
56
55
35
63
63
53
52
67
54
68
55
45
40
56
54
62
57
52
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
| 21 |
Nevertheless, these differences are rather small
and suggest that in most countries, boys and girls
use smartphones to a similar extent.
Age differences are more consistent and
prominent. Across all countries, older children are
more likely to access the internet daily from their
smartphones than younger children, which is
especially contrasted between the youngest and
oldest age category (Ave = 46 percentage points
of difference).
The number of children in the youngest age
category (9–11) who go online from their
smartphones every day ranges between 14% in
France and 56% in Lithuania. In most countries,
however, less than one in three children in this
age group accesses the internet from a
smartphone several times a day.
Among 12- to 14-year-olds, the number of those
who access the internet very often from a
smartphone ranges between 42% (Slovakia) and
84% (Norway).
Using smartphones to go online several times a
day is far more common among 15- to 16-year-
olds, ranging between 56% in Slovakia and 93%
in Norway.
In Switzerland and Spain, the gap between the
youngest category and oldest category is quite
noticeable (69 and 62 percentage points,
respectively).
On the other hand, in Lithuania, Croatia and
Slovakia, it is 35 percentage points or less.
Figure 6: Using a smartphone several times
each day or all the time to access the internet,
by age
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. Data not weighted.
QB5a How often do you go online or use the internet using
the following devices? A mobile phone or smartphone.
Percentage of children who answered
daily or almost daily,
several times a day
or
all the time.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
81
88
56
87
86
83
71
75
93
80
84
76
66
71
88
90
72
87
88
89
68
80
42
78
73
68
70
65
84
69
70
64
48
51
79
70
71
72
66
75
35
0
21
0
49
42
34
36
44
38
56
31
31
14
0
28
38
38
36
20
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 22 |
Time spent online
Providing an estimate of the time that children spend
online is not an easy task. As noted, having a
smartphone ‘always at hand’ means that children’s
internet use has become continuous and interstitial,
filling up the intervals between daily activities.
Children are now able to check messages and
notifications, or to look for information and content
almost anywhere and anytime, making it difficult to
measure the exact time they spend online. Moreover,
a growing number of activities, such as watching TV,
have moved online, whether on SVOD services
(Subscription Video on Demand) or YouTube.
However, children might not perceive watching an
episode on Netflix as spending time on the internet,
thus making time estimates more complicated.
Although we recognise these limitations, we also
recognise the need for at least some estimate of time
spent online. To achieve this we use we asked the
children to estimate how long they spend on the
internet on weekdays and at weekend, to give an
indication of how embedded the internet is in their
everyday lives. By separating between weekdays and
weekends, we acknowledge the different structure in
the lives of most children during schooldays and non-
school days. It is nevertheless necessary to
acknowledge that the estimate of time use achieved
in this way is bound to be very inaccurate on the
individual level.
In the figures below we report the average time
children spend online each day. This means that
variations across countries can also be attributed to
variations in the use of the internet in schools.
As shown in Figure 7, children’s estimated time
online ranges from 134 minutes (Switzerland) to
219 minutes (Norway).
In EU Kids Online 2010, time spent on the
internet every day ranged from about 1 hour
(Spain) to 2 hours (Romania). Therefore, in some
countries such as France, Germany, Italy,
Portugal and Spain, the average time children
spend on the internet has doubled or nearly
doubled. Instead, in countries where the average
time spent online was already near to 2 hours,
such as the Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland and
Romania, the rise has been less substantial. In
Norway, where children were likely to spend 2
hours on average on the internet every day, time
spent online nearly doubled, according to the
findings of the current survey.
Figure 7: Estimated average time online (in
minutes) each day, by country
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
Derived from QB7 and QB8: About how long do you spend
on the internet during a regular weekday (school-day) and
a regular weekend-day.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
As shown in Figure 8, the average time spent online
everyday varies little between boys and girls, but in
countries where the difference is more than 10
minutes, boys spend a little longer on the internet
than girls.
The difference in time spent online between boys
and girls is below 20 minutes in most countries.
167
145
188
178
178
164
219
194
171
143
157
146
180
172
137
172
134
0 60 120 180 240
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
| 23 |
Figure 8: Estimated average time online (in
minutes) each day, by gender
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
Derived from QB7 and QB8: About how long do you spend
on the internet during a regular weekday (school-day) and
a regular weekend-day.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
As shown in Figure 9, age differences are more stark,
with 15 to 16-years-olds spending almost twice as
much time online than children in the youngest
category.
The average time spent online by children in the
youngest category ranges between 74 minutes
(Switzerland) to almost three hours (Norway).
The time that 12- to 14-year-olds estimate to
spend on the internet ranges between two and
half hours (Germany) to around four hours
(Norway and Flanders).
Children in the oldest category tend to spend
more time on the internet daily, between 3.0
hours (Slovakia) up to four and half hours (Russia
and Serbia).
Figure 9: Estimated average time online (in
minutes) each day, by age
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. Data not weighted.
Derived from QB7 and QB8: About how long do you spend
on the internet during a regular weekday (school-day) and
a regular weekend-day.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
171
146
190
184
182
162
227
202
170
144
162
152
188
180
136
182
132
163
144
186
169
173
166
211
187
173
143
151
140
170
164
137
161
136
0 60 120 180 240
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
Boys Girls
229
231
181
273
275
239
230
231
267
236
221
184
205
200
262
253
212
196
252
207
192
232
157
208
211
185
193
188
237
224
190
156
162
159
230
202
206
146
184
170
114
102
106
132
119
110
165
139
122
93
119
91
131
125
88
114
74
0 60 120 180 240
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 24 |
Points to consider
While the data presented in this section suggest
a deep integration of the internet in children’s
daily lives, inequalities in access and use persist
and may have consequences in terms of
children’s digital inclusion. For example, while
most of the children access the internet from their
smartphones, differences may exist between
those who can rely both on mobile web plans and
Wi-Fi networks and those who, by contrast, can
go online only through mobile data plans, who
may experience more constraints in the time
spent online (even on a daily basis) and the range
of activities taken up.
Furthermore, we cannot conclude that having the
internet ‘always at hand’ translates into more
online opportunities: smartphones are associated
with an increase in communication and
entertainment activities, but not with more use of
the internet for schoolwork
16
.
Future research could also investigate the
variability of online risks that children experience
through different devices, such as mobile phones,
tablets or laptops. It could be that new devices,
such as smart toys, will also bring new risks, such
as privacy problems or problems with those toys
being hacked.
In many countries, the time that children report
spending online almost doubled compared to the
findings of the EU Kids Online survey in 2010.
Thus, with regard to general trends, we know
that children are now spending more and more
time online. Moreover, as the findings show, older
children report being online about twice as long
as younger children. The differences between age
groups vary between countries.
This finding must be contextualised with the
consideration of technology development. The
substance of internet use has changed with the
use of smartphones that allow quick access to the
internet, which many children may use while
travelling, waiting for somebody or during breaks
at school. However, this raises a question – do
children limit some activities more because of the
increased time they spend online? Or do they
simply incorporate internet use within their daily
activities, in which they still actively engage? Such
questions could be answered in future research.
In line with this, we must also acknowledge that
with the rise of smartphones, the average time
spent online is even more complicated to
measure. Therefore, the provided estimate needs
to be taken as a rough approximation that has
certain limitations. Future research could focus on
the development of tools, such as software for
mobile phones, which could give the exact
measure of ‘time online’. This would also be
beneficial for users, so that they can keep better
track of time they spend on the internet.
We could also ask whether listening to music
online or watching movies via the internet is ‘time
online’ or not. Perspectives on this among policy-
makers, researchers, the public and, of course,
children themselves vary. Thus, even though we
may precisely measure ‘time online’, with the
augmentation of diverse services in the media
and on the internet, the question ‘How much time
do you spend on the internet?’ has become
inevitably complex.
In most countries
14 to 16-year-olds spend
nearly twice as much time
online than 9 to 10-year-olds.
16
see, for example, Mascheroni, G., & Ólafsson, K.
(2015). The mobile internet: Access, use,
opportunities and divides among European
children. New Media & Society, 18(8), 1657–79.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444814567986
| 25 |
Practices and skills
With the focus on practices and skills, our description
moves deeper into what children do online. This
particular part of the model considers specific
activities children can engage in on the internet and
children’s digital skills, i.e., the skills to understand
and effectively use the internet for their benefit.
Knowing that the possibilities of what children can do
online are almost endless and that no research can
capture everything, the EU Kids Online survey
comprises a carefully selected a set of activities
identified in prior literature as the most salient. At the
same time, we strived to capture activities that
represent three large motives for going online for a
school-aged child: entertainment, socialising and
education (see Figure 10).
Figure 10: Theoretical model - this section
focuses on Practices and Skills (in red)
Online activities
Online activities, i.e., engaging in specific actions the
online environment provides, are difficult to define as
either entirely beneficial or risky. In the current
survey, we asked the children about activities they
had done in the last month. Our aim was to
understand the online opportunities that children
take up more often. Thus, we asked the following
question:
How often have you done these things ONLINE in the
past month?
The list included activities such as communication
with family and friends, entertainment activities,
gaming, schoolwork, information-seeking or content
creation (see Table 3).
As the internet has become more and more
embedded in children’s lives, they have moved more
of their everyday practices online. However, the
range of online activities they take up seems stable
across time: the same pattern can be observed as in
2010, whereby the majority of children engage in
communication and entertainment activities, along
with schoolwork, whereas content creation or
seeking news is taken up by only a minority of the
children.
Watching videos, listening to music, communicating
with friends and family, visiting a social networking
site and playing online games top the list of activities
done on a daily basis. More specifically, as shown in
Table 3:
Watching videos ranges between 43% (Slovakia)
and 82% (Lithuania).
Similarly, listening to music online varies between
45% (Germany) and 81% (Serbia).
Using the internet to communicate with friends
and families ranges between 14% (Germany) and
77% (Romania), while visiting a social networking
site varies between 38% (Spain) and 73%
(Serbia).
A number of children play online games every
day, ranging from between 27% (Slovakia) and
71% (Lithuania).
Using the internet for schoolwork ranges between
16% (Poland) and 46% (Lithuania).
Buying things online or checking on the internet
for the prices of things to buy is less common,
taken up by 8% (Germany) to 41% (Romania).
Using the internet to read or watch the news
ranges between 9% (Germany) and 39%
(Lithuania).
| 26 |
Table 3: Daily online activities, by country
I watched
video
clips
I listened
to music
online
I
communi-
cated
with
family or
friends
I visited a
social
network
site
I played
online
games
I used the
internet
for
school-
work
I browsed
for things
to buy or
see what
things
cost
I looked
for news
online
CH
58
63
47
54
36
21
17
20
CZ
73
68
70
66
44
20
27
19
DE
49
45
14
42
34
20
8
9
EE
79
66
71
56
43
28
13
22
ES
58
64
70
38
48
44
23
19
*FI
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
FR
46
57
48
41
42
29
13
18
HR
52
64
60
58
40
34
20
18
IT
55
47
74
54
28
35
16
14
LT
82
72
63
61
71
46
16
39
MT
79
72
68
46
54
35
31
17
NO
71
68
65
56
43
41
15
19
PL
70
65
63
48
36
16
24
15
PT
75
76
72
67
47
25
18
25
RO
77
76
77
49
60
37
41
21
RS
80
81
68
73
55
18
23
12
*RU
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
SK
43
55
46
62
27
42
17
19
*VL
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Ave
65
65
61
54
44
31
20
19
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QC3 How often have you done these things ONLINE in the past month? Percentage of children who answered
daily or almost
daily, several times a day
or
all the time.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Watching videos
Watching videos is a popular online activity, taken up
by two-thirds of the children in most of the countries
on a daily basis, as shown in Figure 11.
The number of children who don’t watch video
clips on the internet, or do so only seldomly,
ranges between 4% (Lithuania) and 25%
(Switzerland and Spain).
Gender differences are generally small (see
Figure 12), with boys slightly more likely to watch
video clips on the internet in most countries.
In most countries the difference between boys
and girls watching video clips is below or equal to
10 percentage points.
In the Czech Republic, the difference between
boys and girls watching video clips is 14
percentage points, and in Norway, 19 percentage
points.
| 27 |
Figure 11: Frequency of watching video clips,
by country
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QC3k How often have you done these things ONLINE in the
past month? I watched video clips.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
As shown in Figure 13, age differences are more
pronounced, especially in comparison between the
youngest (9–11) and oldest (15–16) age categories
(Ave = 22 percentage points of difference).
The number of 9- to 11-year-olds who watch
videos on the internet everyday ranges from
between 30% (France and Germany) and 73%
(Estonia). In half of the countries, however, more
than half of the youngest children watch videos
online.
Among 12- to 14-year-olds, watching video clips
on the internet is taken up on a daily basis by a
number of children, ranging from between 48%
(Slovakia) and 86% (Lithuania).
Finally, 15- to 16-year-olds who watch videos
online everyday range from between 45%
(Slovakia) and 91% (Lithuania).
Figure 12: Watching video clips daily, by
gender
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QC3k How often have you done these things ONLINE in the
past month? I watched video clips. Percentage of children
who answered
daily or almost daily, several times a day
or
all the time.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
66
43
80
77
75
70
74
79
82
57
53
46
58
79
49
73
58
21
35
14
13
14
19
15
12
15
27
29
36
17
16
37
17
17
13
22
6
10
11
11
12
9
4
17
18
18
25
5
14
10
25
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Daily or more often
% At least every week
% Never or hardly ever
62
44
75
73
72
65
62
78
84
50
47
47
54
75
47
66
55
69
43
84
81
78
75
81
79
80
59
57
45
61
84
51
80
62
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
| 28 |
Figure 13: Watching video clips daily, by age
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. Data not weighted.
QC3k How often have you done these things ONLINE in the
past month? I watched video clips. Percentage of children
who answered
daily or almost daily, several times a day
or
all the time.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Visiting social networking sites
The use of social networking sites has changed
consistently across time, with children migrating from
Facebook to other social media platforms such as
Instagram or to instant messaging services like
WhatsApp. This could account for the low response
rates in the number of children who visit a social
networking site in certain countries, since children
might use social media platforms that they do not
identify as social network sites. In some countries,
however, the questionnaire included a reference to
the most popular social media platforms for children.
The number of children aged 9–16 who report
visiting social networking sites daily or more often
ranges from between 38% (Spain) and 73%
(Serbia) (see Figure 14). Additionally, 7% to 17%
of children use social networking sites at least
every week. Altogether, in every country besides
Spain, more than half the children use social
network sites at least every week (Ave = 66%).
On the other hand, half of the Spanish children
and over 40% of children in France, Germany and
Malta never or hardly ever visited a social
networking site.
Quite a few 9 to 11 year olds
– from 10 % in Germany to
45% in Serbia, report visiting
a social networking site every
day
A shown in Figure 15, in the Czech Republic,
Estonia, France, Germany, Poland, Portugal,
Slovakia and Switzerland, there is only a small
gender difference in daily visiting social
networking sites (ranging between 6 and 13
percentage points).
In other countries, the gender differences are
very small or negligible (equal or below 5
percentage points).
The use of social networking sites is strongly
structured by age (see Figure 16), with the majority
of 15- to 16-year-olds reporting doing so every day,
against only a minority of children aged 9–11 (Ave =
53 percentage points of difference).
76
67
45
79
88
86
78
78
85
86
91
63
62
62
81
72
86
66
81
80
72
76
48
75
84
82
83
76
80
85
86
59
55
51
78
63
83
57
79
74
54
37
69
66
64
60
52
68
72
43
44
30
46
73
30
65
36
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 29 |
Despite the age limits for online platforms and the
implementation of GDPR’s article 8 in EU
countries
17
– which requires parental consent for
the processing of personal data of children under
the ages of 13, 14 or 16 (depending on the
country) – a number of 9- to 11-year-olds,
ranging between 11% in Germany and 45% in
Serbia, report visiting a social networking site
every day.
Figure 14: Frequency of visiting social
networking sites, by country
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QC3h How often have you done these things ONLINE in the
past month? I visited a social networking site. Percentage
of children who answered
daily or almost daily, several
times a day
or
all the time.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
17
Milkaite, I., & Lievens, E. (2019, December 20). Status
quo regarding the child's article 8 GDPR age of consent
for data processing across the EU. Better Internet for
Kids.
https://www.betterinternetforkids.eu/web/portal/practi
ce/awareness/detail?articleId=3017751
Figure 15: Visiting social network sites daily,
by gender
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QC3h How often have you done these things ONLINE in the
past month? I visited a social networking site. Percentage
of children who answered
daily or almost daily, several
times a day
or
all the time.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
54
62
73
49
67
48
56
46
61
54
58
41
38
55
42
66
54
12
13
12
15
9
14
7
12
13
13
17
15
12
12
15
12
8
33
25
15
36
24
38
37
42
26
33
26
44
50
33
43
22
39
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Daily or more often
% At least every week
% Never or hardly ever
57
66
73
48
72
55
58
48
63
57
59
46
38
60
46
69
58
51
59
72
49
62
42
54
43
60
52
57
36
37
51
38
62
49
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
| 30 |
Figure 16: Visiting social network sites daily,
by age
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. Data not weighted.
QC3h How often have you done these things ONLINE in the
past month? I visited a social networking site. Percentage
of children who answered
daily or almost daily, several
times a day
or
all the time.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
However, since the survey data were collected
before (e.g., Slovakia and the Czech Republic) or
soon after the implementation of the GDPR in
May 2018, it will be interesting to monitor over
time the influence of different age limits on
under-age social networking.
Similarly, the daily use of social networking sites
among 12- to 14-year-olds varies between 10%
(Finland) and 86% (Serbia and Russia).
Finally, the number of 15- to 16-year-olds who
use social networking sites daily varies between
21% (Finland) and 93% (Czech Republic and
Serbia).
Playing online games
Along with watching videos, playing online games is
a common entertainment activity in most countries,
practised every day by a number of children, ranging
from 27% (Slovakia) to 71% (Lithuania) (see Figure
17).
Further, two in three children report playing
online games at least once a week in most of the
countries.
Gaming is popular in Lithuania and Romania,
where only a small proportion of children report
never or hardly ever playing online games (13%
and 21% respectively).
On the other hand, in Italy and Slovakia, around
half of children do not engage in playing online
games on a daily basis (56% and 45%,
respectively).
Playing online games is strongly structured by gender
(see Figure 18).
In the majority of countries the difference
between boys and girls is between 25 and 41
percentage points (Ave = 30 percentage points of
difference).
In Norway, the difference reaches 54 percentage
points. On the other hand, in Lithuania, the
difference is 12 percentage points.
77
68
81
92
93
68
88
80
90
69
87
79
86
67
21
58
84
75
93
85
63
49
74
86
86
52
78
59
75
51
71
63
66
49
10
48
69
50
77
75
28
34
45
31
38
22
15
29
36
23
32
14
20
29
11
40
22
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 31 |
Figure 17: Frequency of playing online games,
by country
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QC3j How often have you done these things ONLINE in the
past month? I played online games. Percentage of children
who answered
daily or almost daily, several times a day
or
all the time.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
As shown in Figure 19, online gaming also varies by
age, although different patterns emerge across the
countries.
In most of the countries, the age group who are
more likely to play online games every day is
represented by 12- to 14-year-olds.
In Germany and Italy online gaming increases
with age, although the difference between
younger and older users is 14 and 9 percentage
points, respectively, which is a relatively small
difference compared to age differences found in
other online activities.
In Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Serbia
and Flanders, playing online games every day
decreases by age.
Figure 18: Playing online games daily, by
gender
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QC3j How often have you done these things ONLINE in the
past month? I played online games. Percentage of children
who answered
daily or almost daily, several times a day
or
all the time.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Playing games online is the
most gendered activity, with
boys in most countries
playing twice as much as
girls.
44
27
55
60
47
36
43
54
71
28
40
42
48
43
34
44
36
22
28
21
19
17
28
16
21
16
16
30
30
17
20
31
23
21
34
45
25
21
36
36
41
25
13
56
30
29
36
37
35
34
43
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Daily or more often
% At least every week
% Never or hardly ever
29
16
37
48
29
18
16
40
65
16
27
29
28
22
20
24
22
59
37
72
72
64
53
70
68
77
41
52
53
67
63
49
61
50
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
| 32 |
Figure 19: Playing online games daily, by age
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QC3b How often have you done these things ONLINE in the
past month? I used the internet for schoolwork. Percentage
of children who answered
daily or almost daily, several
times a day
or
all the time.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Using the internet for schoolwork
Using the internet for schoolwork (Figure 20) is a
further indicator of how embedded the internet is in
children’s everyday lives.
Using the internet for schoolwork on a daily basis
ranges between 16% in Poland and 46% of
children in Lithuania.
In most countries, less than one in three children
say they never or hardly ever use the internet for
schoolwork.
Figure 20: Using the internet for schoolwork,
by country
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QC3b How often have you done these things ONLINE in the
past month? I used the internet for schoolwork. Percentage
of children who answered
daily or almost daily, several
times a day
or
all the time.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Gender differences in the number of children who use
the internet for schoolwork are small or none (see
Figure 21). In all countries where boys and girls
differ, girls tend to report using the internet for
schoolwork more than boys.
41
36
24
44
45
56
42
33
39
51
68
32
36
43
38
44
38
42
39
35
47
59
29
46
54
67
51
39
47
57
73
29
40
48
44
49
44
35
45
43
43
27
63
55
45
35
42
51
71
23
43
34
48
44
28
45
30
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
31
41
18
37
25
16
41
35
46
35
34
29
44
28
20
20
21
36
42
42
32
27
29
27
34
33
44
42
38
28
38
46
43
30
34
17
40
32
47
55
33
31
21
21
24
33
29
35
34
36
49
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Daily or more often
% At least every week
% Never or hardly ever
| 33 |
In several countries, boys and girls report using
the internet for schoolwork to a very similar
extent: Germany, Estonia, France, Serbia, Italy
Lithuania, Norway, Poland and Portugal
(differences equal to or below 5 percentage
points).
In six countries, the difference between girls and
boys is around 5–9 percentage points.
In Malta the difference between girls and boys is
14 percentage points.
Figure 21: Using the internet for schoolwork,
by gender
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QC3b How often have you done these things ONLINE in the
past month? I used the internet for schoolwork. Percentage
of children who answered
daily or almost daily, several
times a day
or
all the time.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Figure 22: Using the internet for schoolwork,
by age
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. Data not weighted.
QC3b How often have you done these things ONLINE in the
past month? I used the internet for schoolwork. Percentage
of children who answered
daily or almost daily, several
times a day
or
all the time.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
33
47
20
41
25
16
42
42
48
34
38
30
47
29
19
23
26
28
36
16
33
26
16
39
28
43
37
31
29
40
27
20
17
17
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
44
60
55
64
23
57
29
34
60
52
54
43
47
41
23
59
41
31
37
31
35
60
46
51
17
38
26
12
41
41
55
40
37
36
15
53
30
20
21
29
20
26
16
22
21
11
28
19
32
22
23
14
30
19
12
10
9
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 34 |
Using the internet for schoolwork everyday is also
clearly structured by age (Figure 22), with 15- to 16-
year-olds more likely to do so on a daily basis than
9- to 11-year-olds (Ave = 24 percentage points of
difference).
The number of 9- to 11-year-olds who report
using the internet for schoolwork every day
ranges between 9% (Switzerland) and 32%
(Lithuania).
Among 12- to 14-year-olds, the number of
children using the internet for schoolwork
everyday ranges between 12% (Poland) and 60%
(Flanders).
Finally, in the oldest age group, school-related
internet use ranges between 23% (Finland and
Serbia) and 64% (Russia).
Points to consider
Online activities are closely related to digital skills
– and thus to children’s digital inclusion – as well
as to online opportunities and risks. Prior research
has shown that children who take up a wider
range of online activities are usually exposed to
more risks, but are also better equipped to cope
with such risky situations, thus experiencing less
harm
18
.
While the widespread use of mobile devices is
associated with an increasing number of online
activities, the range of activities taken up is not
necessarily more varied. Children still engage
mostly in communication and entertainment
activities and their progression along the ‘ladder
of opportunities’
19
is still strongly structured by
age.
The frequency of all the activities increases by
age, whereas gender variations tend to be less.
Older children are more likely to take up more
diverse online activities, suggesting a progression
along the ‘ladder of opportunities’
20
21
from more
basic uses of the internet – such as
communication, entertainment and schoolwork –
to more participatory activities.
Gender differences persist, although they are not
very pronounced, with the exception of gaming.
Although playing games online can be seen by
some as an activity with no substantial outcome,
18
Livingstone, S., Hasebrink, U., & Görzig, A. (2012).
Towards a general model of determinants of risk and
safety. In S. Livingstone, L. Haddon & A. Görzig (Eds.),
Children, Risk and Safety on the Internet: Research and
Policy Challenges in Comparative Perspective (pp. 323-
327). Policy Press.
19
Livingstone, S. & Helsper, E. (2007). Gradations in
digital inclusion: Children, young people and the digital
divide. New Media & Society, 9(4), 671–96.
it could be the path to the development of
important digital skills. Therefore, whether
gender variations translate into more or less
digital skills, and what kind of skills are associated
with gaming, should be explored further.
In some countries, the use of the internet for
schoolwork is also partially differentiated by
gender. Understanding why boys engage less in
school-related activities on the internet in such
countries is crucial if we want to address
disparities in the tangible outcomes of internet
use that already exist from childhood.
20
ibid
21
Livingstone, S., Haddon, L., Görzig, A., & Ólafsson, K.
(2011). Risk and safety on the internet: The perspective
of European children. Full findings from the EU Kids
Online survey of 9-16 year olds and their parents. EU Kids
Online, LSE. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/33731/
| 35 |
Digital skills
Digital skills are a fundamental precondition of
children’s successful engagement with the world
through the internet: they are relevant for young
people’s participation in society, education,
employment and their general well-being
22
23
. Digital
skills are positively associated with the diversity and
frequency of online activities
24
25
: the more online
opportunities children benefit from, the more
children develop digital skills, and vice versa. More
opportunities, however, are linked to more risks, so
that more skilled children do actually encounter more
risks, although digital skills can mediate between
exposure to online risks and harm or resilience by
reducing the harmful consequences of exposure to
risks and making children more resilient
26
.
In line with developments in research on digital
inclusion, the EU Kids Online survey broadened the
scope of the digital skills measured. More specifically,
the Internet Skills Scale was adopted, as developed
and validated by van Deursen et al
27
, which identifies
skills measures in five areas of competence:
operational skills, including safety skills; information
navigation skills, which enable critical engagement
with online information; social skills, i.e., the ability
to manage online relationships with others; creative
skills, namely the capacity to produce
communication; and mobile skills, related to the use
of mobile devices.
We asked the children the following question:
Please
indicate how true the following things are of you
when thinking about how you use technologies such
as mobile phones and the internet. If you don't
understand what the question is referring to, choose
the option ‘I don’t know’. If you have never done this,
then think of how much this would apply to you if you
had to do this now. On a scale from 1 to 5, where 1
is ‘Not at all true of me’ and 5 is ‘Very true of me’,
how true are these of you?
The response options
were then labelled in the following way:
Not true of
me, Somewhat not true of me, Neither true nor not
true of me, Somewhat true of me, Very true of me.
22
ITU (2018). Measuring the Information Society report.
Geneva: ITU. www.itu.int/en/ITU-
D/Statistics/Documents/publications/misr2018/MISR-
2018-Vol-1-E.pdf
23
van Deursen, A.J.A.M., Helsper, E.J. & Eynon, R.
(2016). Development and validation of the Internet Skills
Scale (ISS). Information, Communication and Society,
19(6), 804–23.
24
Livingstone, S., & Helsper, E. (2007). Gradations in
digital inclusion: Children, young people and the digital
divide. New Media & Society, 9(4), 671–96.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444807080335.
This question was only asked of older children in the
majority of the countries, so we present only the
findings from children aged 12–16.
An overview of skills
In Table 4, we present number of children that say
somewhat true of me
or
very true of me
. Across the
countries, the majority of children score high on
operational (Ave = 84% and 79%) and social (Ave =
86% and 89%) skills.
Contrary to the myth of the digital natives,
information navigation skills are unevenly distributed
across the countries. These include the ability to
assess the reliability of online information (varies
between 36% and 75%) and the ability to choose the
right keywords in an online search (varies between
52% and 89%), and are particularly low among
children in Spain, Switzerland, Germany, France and
Italy.
The evidence counters another myth associated with
the digital natives rhetoric and celebratory discourses
of web 2.0 users as producers: children also vary
greatly across countries with respect to their levels of
creative skills (varies between 55% and 86% in
creating content and between 27% and 59% in
editing content).
Finally, while almost all the children know how to
download an app on a mobile device, the
management and monitoring of the costs of app use
is unevenly distributed across the countries (varies
between 48% and 84%).
25
Livingstone, S., Haddon, L., Görzig, A., & Ólafsson, K.
(2011). Risk and safety on the internet: The perspective
of European children. Full findings from the EU Kids
Online survey of 9-16 year olds and their parents. EU Kids
Online, LSE. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/33731/
26
Livingstone, S., Mascheroni, G. & Staksrud, E. (2018).
European research on children’s internet use: Assessing
the past and anticipating the future. New Media &
Society, 20(3), 1103–22.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816685930
27
van Deursen, A.J.A.M., Helsper, E.J. & Eynon, R.
(2016). Development and validation of the Internet Skills
Scale (ISS). Information, Communication and Society,
19(6), 804–23
| 36 |
Table 4: Measurements of digital skills (% who say
very true
or
somewhat true
), by country
Operational
Information /
navigation
Social
Creative
Mobile
I know how to save a
photo that I find online
I know how to change
my privacy settings
I find it easy to check
if the information I find
online is true
I find it easy to choose
the best keywords for
online searches
I know which
information I should
and shouldn’t share
online
I know how to remove
people from my
contact lists
I know how to create
and post online video
or music
I know how to edit or
make basic changes t
o
online content
tttooot
others have
created
I know
how to install
apps on a mobile
device
I know how to keep
track of the costs of
mobile app use
I know how to make
an in
-app purchase
CH
77
81
46
71
89
92
55
38
96
62
71
CZ
89
83
58
69
91
94
65
27
96
49
69
DE
85
73
41
86
80
85
65
43
86
62
69
EE
91
84
66
77
91
94
58
39
90
68
66
ES
71
77
36
52
85
88
66
28
94
48
60
*FI
84
81
71
71
90
90
69
49
88
56
74
FR
77
61
47
68
74
71
64
36
83
51
62
*HR
84
81
65
80
86
83
63
n.a.
83
70
67
IT
87
75
49
73
86
88
72
53
90
67
65
LT
91
83
73
89
86
89
86
59
84
72
63
MT
76
82
61
72
87
87
61
44
89
57
61
NO
83
78
61
68
95
92
61
34
98
84
77
PL
83
80
67
73
86
87
62
43
87
70
71
PT
83
87
56
68
88
91
64
39
93
67
67
RO
84
70
69
66
78
88
76
55
88
74
74
RS
92
90
75
78
93
96
75
44
98
62
74
*RU
88
78
55
62
82
91
65
38
91
67
75
SK
86
80
67
82
79
86
71
57
82
64
70
*VL
88
85
56
60
88
92
65
45
93
67
71
Ave
84
79
59
72
86
89
66
43
90
64
69
* FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted. HR: QE1h not asked (I know how to edit or make basic changes to online content).
QE1 On a scale from 1 to 5 where 1 is ‘Not at all true of me’ and 5 is ‘Very true of me’, how true are these of you? Percentage of
children who answered
very true or somewhat true
.
Base: All children aged 12-16 who use the internet.
Overall skills
Overall digital skills measurement is derived from the
11 statements all of which were presented under the
heading:
On a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 is ‘Not at
all true of me’ and 5 is ‘Very true of me’, how true
are these of you?
Answers to all 11 questions were
combined and then adjusted to form a measurement
scale running from 0 (minimum level of skills) to 10
(maximum level of skills). The overall level of digital
28
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for
the behavioural sciences (2nd ed.) Hillsdale, NJ.
Lawrence Erlbaum.
skills across countries ranges from 7.1 (France) to 8.3
(Lithuania and Serbia) (see Figure 23).
For gender and age comparison, we look to Cohen’s
suggestion
28
for interpretation of effect sizes which
are based on mean differences as measured in
standard deviation. In this context, observed
differences up to 0.46 can be said to imply negligible
effect, differences between 0.46 and 1.15 small
effect, and bigger differences as medium or even
| 37 |
large effects. Figure 24 shows the gender differences
in the overall level of digital skills.
In most countries the differences between boys
and girls are negligible, below or equal to 0.4.
In Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Spain, and
Norway, boys report higher skill than girls, though
the difference is only small.
Figure 23: Overall digital skills, by country
* FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted.
QE1 Derived from QE1 - see Table 4.
Base: All children aged 12-16 who use the internet.
Figure 24: Overall digital skills, by gender
* FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted.
QE1 Derived from QE1 - see Table 4
Base: All children aged 12-16 who use the internet.
Figure 25 shows that age differences are slightly
stronger, ranging between 0.43 (Flanders) and 0.99
(Germany):
Among 12- to 14-year-olds, the overall level of
digital skills ranges between 6.7 (France) and 8.1
(Serbia).
As expected, 15- to 16-year-olds score higher on
the overall level of digital skills, ranging between
7.6 (France) and 8.9 (Lithuania).
7.8
7.9
8.1
7.7
8.3
8.0
8.0
7.9
8.0
7.5
8.3
7.7
8.0
7.1
7.6
7.5
7.9
7.9
7.8
7.6
0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
7.7
7.8
8.1
7.6
8.2
8.0
7.9
7.8
7.7
7.6
8.3
7.5
8.0
7.2
7.6
7.2
7.8
7.7
7.5
7.2
8.0
8.0
8.1
7.9
8.5
8.0
8.2
8.1
8.3
7.5
8.3
7.8
8.1
7.1
7.6
7.7
7.9
8.1
8.1
7.9
0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
Boys Girls
| 38 |
Figure 25: Overall digital skills, by age
* FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted.
QE1 Derived from QE1 - see Table 4.
Base: All children aged 12-16 who use the internet.
Information navigation skills
Information navigation skills are represented by the
item:
I find it easy to check if the information I find
online is true
. The ability to check accuracy and
reliability of the information online is critical for the
achievement of tangible outcomes of internet use
such as education, citizenship and participation. As
shown in Figure 26, these skills vary across countries.
The number of children who report being very
confident (i.e., said
very true of me
) and find it
very easy to check whether the information they
find online ranges between 16% (Switzerland)
and 43% (Lithuania).
In Switzerland, Germany, Spain, France and Italy,
only one in five children or fewer are very
confident in their information navigation skills.
On the other hand, the high level of information
navigation skills is above or equal 35% in
Lithuania, Romania, Serbia, Poland, Croatia and
Slovakia.
Figure 26: Information-navigation skills, by
country
* FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted.
QE1c I find it easy to check if the information I find online
is true.
Base: All children aged 12-16 who use the internet.
As shown in Figure 27, there are only slight
gender differences in high information navigation
skills (i.e., saying
very true of me
), with more
boys saying they are skilled (Ave = 8 percentage
points of difference).
The number of girls who report that it is
very true
of them to be able to assess whether online
information is true ranges from 13% of girls in
Spain and Switzerland to 44% in Lithuania.
The proportion of boys who report the same
8.2
8.0
8.5
8.1
8.7
8.4
8.3
8.2
8.5
7.8
8.9
8.2
8.6
7.6
7.9
7.9
8.2
8.5
8.3
8.1
7.6
7.7
7.8
7.4
8.1
7.7
7.8
7.8
7.6
7.4
8.0
7.3
7.7
6.7
7.3
7.3
7.7
7.5
7.5
7.4
0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
28
26
42
26
37
35
24
37
23
29
43
20
38
17
31
18
27
18
26
16
31
30
25
29
38
34
32
30
39
32
29
28
27
30
39
18
39
23
33
30
41
44
33
45
25
31
44
33
39
39
28
51
36
53
30
64
34
59
42
54
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Very true of me
% Somewhat true of me
% Not true or dont know
| 39 |
Figure 27: Information-navigation skills, by
gender
* FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted.
QE1c I find it easy to check if the information I find online
is true. Percentage of children who answered
very true or
somewhat true
.
Base: All children aged 12-16 who use the internet.
information navigation skills ranges between
18% in France and 45% in Poland and Serbia.
Gender differences are small or negligible in
countries where over a third of children say they
are skilled (such as Lithuania and Slovakia) as
well in those where less than a fifth of children
report this (such as France and Switzerland).
The gender differences are more pronounced in
the Czech Republic (17 percentage points),
Poland (16 percentage points), Portugal (22
percentage points) and Serbia (16 percentage
points).
Figure 28: Information navigation skills, by
age
* FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted.
QE1c I find it easy to check if the information I find online
is true. Percentage of children who answered
very true or
somewhat true
.
Base: All children aged 12-16 who use the internet.
Figure 28 shows the age differences related to
information navigation skills.
24
22
41
24
29
30
13
29
20
27
44
17
32
16
23
13
26
15
17
13
32
31
44
29
45
39
35
45
26
31
42
24
43
18
40
23
28
21
34
20
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
32
22
49
32
36
35
26
44
28
38
53
26
48
21
33
17
28
27
31
13
25
31
37
21
37
35
23
33
19
25
34
16
31
15
29
19
26
11
23
17
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 40 |
In about half of the countries more older than
younger children report confidence in their ability
to check the validity of online information, with
the differences between 6 percentage points
(France) and 19 (Lithuania).
In Switzerland, Estonia, Spain, Finland, Portugal,
Romania, and Serbia, the age differences were
only small or negligible (equal to or below 5
percentage points).
The information navigation skills of 12- to 14-
year-olds range between 11% (Germany) and
37% (Serbia).
Among 15- to 16-year-olds, the number of
children who reportedly possess this skill ranges
between 13% (Switzerland) and 53% (Lithuania).
Therefore, age variations across countries are
more pronounced among children in the oldest
age category.
Social skills
In general, children score high on the social skills
scale, which is represented by item
I know which
information I should and shouldn’t share online
. Less
than third of the children in most of the countries
(Ave = 64%) report this is
very true
of them (Figure
29).
Between 39% (France) and 81% (Serbia) of the
children say they have these social skills.
Less than half the children reported this as very
true for them in Germany (48%), France (39%)
and Russia (45%).
On the other hand, over 75% children agreed
with this in Portugal (78%) and Serbia (81%).
The differences between boys and girls in Figure
30 show that in about half of the countries,
gender is not substantially differentiated in social
skills.
In Switzerland, Estonia, Finland, Malta, Portugal,
Romania and Flanders, more girls than boys say
they have social skills (differences range between
6 percentage points in Switzerland and 12 points
in Romania and Finland). This finding is contrary
to the other skills measured, pointing out that
when it comes to social skills and the
management of interpersonal relationships
online, girls are generally more equipped than
boys.
Figure 29: Social skills, by country
* FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted.
QE1e I know which information I should and shouldn’t share
online.
Base: All children aged 12-16 who use the internet.
As shown in Figure 31, there are only slight
differences related to the age of the children (Ave
= 6 percentage points of difference).
The level of social skills among 12- to 14-year-
olds ranges between 36% (France) and 78%
(Portugal and Serbia).
In the oldest age group, social skills range
between 42% (France) and 86% (Serbia).
In the Czech Republic, Estonia, Spain, Croatia,
Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Flanders,
the age differences are negligible equal to or
below 5 percentage points).
In other countries, the age differences range
between 6 percentage points (France and
Finland) and 18 percentage points (Germany).
64
70
61
45
81
64
78
72
75
71
61
54
62
39
68
68
67
48
70
72
22
19
18
38
12
15
10
15
20
16
24
32
24
35
22
17
24
31
22
17
14
12
21
18
7
22
12
14
5
13
15
14
14
27
10
15
9
20
9
11
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Very true of me
% Somewhat true of me
% Not true or dont know
| 41 |
Figure 30: Social skills, by gender
* FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted.
QE1e I know which information I should and shouldn’t share
online. Percentage of children who answered
very true or
somewhat true
.
Base: All children aged 12-16 who use the internet.
Figure 31: Social skills, by age
* FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted.
QE1e I know which information I should and shouldn’t share
online. Percentage of children who answered
very true or
somewhat true
.
Base: All children aged 12-16 who use the internet.
66
74
63
44
83
70
83
73
76
77
63
49
63
41
73
67
70
48
70
75
62
66
58
45
79
58
73
71
73
66
59
58
61
37
61
68
63
49
70
69
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
68
68
68
49
86
71
78
74
76
68
71
59
65
42
70
65
67
59
72
77
62
72
55
41
78
58
78
71
74
73
55
50
60
36
64
69
66
41
68
70
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 42 |
Points to consider
While most children score high on the operational
and social skills scales, a significant proportion
lacks information navigation and content creation
skills. Future research could investigate how and
why children report these differences –
specifically, which factors contribute to the
development of information navigation and
content creation skills, and how we can support
their development.
There is a consistent age gap related to
acquisition of some skills. As shown, younger
children in particular are less equipped when it
comes to assessing the reliability of online
information. This should be addressed in efforts
to promote higher media literacy.
Overall, gender differences are small, although in
some countries there is a slight gap between boys
and girls in the level of information navigation
skills.
As shown in ‘Access’, some new technologies are
on the rise which allow internet access, such as
smart toys, but also more complex ones, such as
social robots. The effective use of such devices
may require specialised digital skills not captured
in the survey. Future research should better
reflect on the variability of devices that children
use to access the internet, and also measure
digital skills in relation to these devices. Educator,
researchers and policy-makers should find
optimal ways to help children develop these new
digital skills in relation to devices that they may,
in time, end up using on a daily basis.
Information and navigation
skills are low, especially in
France, Germany, Italy, Spain
and Switzerland.
| 43 |
Risks and opportunities
This section goes a step further, and looks specifically
into the online activities and experiences that can
have negative or positive impacts on children (see
Figure 32). This section deliberately combines risks
and opportunities – in most cases, online activities
cannot be conclusively defined as generally positive
or generally negative. Rather, the same activity can
have positive consequences for one child and
negative consequences for another. One such
example is experiences with sexual messages, where
for some young people, under some circumstances,
receiving a sexual message from a peer, a girlfriend
or a boyfriend can be seen as positive and exciting,
while for others, such messages can be the cause of
distress and potential harm. Disentangling the factors
that lead to one outcome rather than the other is the
significant task of researchers.
In the findings presented here, we aimed to show the
variability of children’s engagement in selected
activities, and both the negative and positive
experiences reflected in their emotional responses.
We ordered the topics in this section based on
approximate level of experienced harm – from those
experiences that in their very definition include some
level of harm (such as online aggression) to those
that are more neutral in essence (such as meeting
new people) and that often lead to positive
outcomes. The specific order should, nevertheless,
not be taken as a strict rank of risks and
opportunities, but only as an effort to give some
(albeit imperfect) order to the sections that follow.
The selected risks and opportunities presented in this
report are as follows: overall negative experiences
encountered online, online aggression and
cyberbullying, exposure to potentially harmful
content, experienced data misuse, using the internet
excessively, sexting, exposure to sexual content, and
meeting new people online. We also included a
section about children’s preferences for online
communication, which may represent either a risk or
opportunity.
We should point out that researching risks and
opportunities has many specific challenges. The next
section briefly explains how EU Kids Online dealt with
these challenges.
What constitutes online risk and how this can be
researched and measured is partly dependent on the
context. Since the EU Kids Online 2010 survey, which
provided evidence about children’s online
experiences, children and young people have been
afforded new online services, content and new
technologies. Perhaps the most obvious example is
how the smartphone has changed how, when and
where the internet can be accessed (see ‘Access’). It
has also opened up more private communication for
children and young people, enabling them to access
content and to communicate with others online when
out and about, sharing diverse information and
material while removed from the parental gaze.
There has also been a change in online praxes, in
particular the widespread use of social networking
sites in which visual content dominates, which can be
easily captured and uploaded through mobile
devices. For research this means that some of the
risks have also changed (or at least have become
much more salient) and the research must react to
such changes. Thus, when creating this survey, in
addition to the measures of risks used in the EU Kids
Online survey in 2010, we included some new
questions. For instance, we asked about experiences
with unwanted requests for sexual information or
sharenting – experiences with parents having shared
personal information about the child.
Figure 32: Theoretical model - this section
focuses on Risks and Opportunities (in red)
How to research risks and
opportunities
Researching risk also means acknowledging that
what is defined as a potential risk for some may be
seen as an opportunity for others. One example is
experiences with sexual messages described next, or
meeting with unknown people from the internet.
Thus, when asking children and young people about
their experiences online, we tried to avoid normative
connotations and guidance. In practice this means
that we do not use terms such as ‘bullying’ and
‘stranger’, but rather we try to operationalise risks to
be explicit, in a child-friendly language. The
questionnaire options also include a wider range of
feelings after the experience. Children were asked if
certain experiences had upset them, without
assuming that an experience had been problematic
| 44 |
and perceived as harmful by all. We also ask if it
resulted in positive feelings and experiences, rather
than just levels of distress (with obvious exceptions,
notably cyberbullying). Thus, to provide a better
insight, some risk sections also included follow-up
questions about positive reactions and feelings to
what most people might perceive as risk-related
and/or abusive behaviour.
Furthermore, considering that older children may
have had more experiences with online risks during
their lives, we framed the questions within a specific
time period (
during the past year
). Also, since the
character of the risks varies and subsequently their
depiction may differ from one incident to another,
when investigating more about the experience, we
framed the question to target the latest one (using
the last time this happened to you, …
). In doing this
we aimed to increase the likelihood that all children
would understand the question in the same manner
and would be able to provide comparable answers.
It must be recognised that there are major
methodological and ethical challenges associated
with mapping risk experienced by children and young
people. The countries included in this report collected
data by various methods, and while there are
different challenges associated with these methods,
all the countries and teams collecting data paid due
attention to the ethical requirements and dilemmas
associated with the research (see ‘Methodology’).
This concerns in particular anonymity and
confidentiality, and comfortable conditions that
enable participants to provide honest answers.
To conclude this section, we would like to stress that
risk is the potential for something to happen.
Sometimes risk experiences result in harm, but risk
and harm must be differentiated. In order to measure
harm, the EU Kids Online survey uses the concept of
intensity, a combination of how one felt after a risk
experience and how long this feeling lasted. Readers
should also refer to the EU Kids Online 2010 reports
for a detailed explanation of the measures of risk
versus harm
29
30
.
29
Livingstone, S., Haddon, L., Görzig, A., & Ólafsson, K.
(2011a). Risk and safety on the internet: The perspective
of European children. Full findings from the EU Kids
Online survey of 9-16 year olds and their parents. EU Kids
Online, LSE. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/33731/
30
Livingstone, S., Haddon, L., Görzig, A., & Ólafsson, K.
(2011). Technical report and user guide: The 2010 EU
Kids Online Survey. A report on the design and
implementation of the EU Kids Online survey of 9-16 year
olds and their parents in 25 countries. EU Kids Online,
LSE. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/45270/
| 45 |
Overall negative
online experiences
Before asking children about a specific online
experience, we asked them about negative online
experiences in the broadest possible terms:
In the PAST YEAR, has anything EVER happened
online that bothered or upset you in some way (e.g.,
made you feel upset, uncomfortable, scared or that
you shouldn’t have seen it)?
This question covers different kinds of online
experiences that make children upset. In the EU Kids
Online survey 2010 we asked children the open
question, ‘
What things on the internet would bother
or upset you?’
31
. Children described a broad range of
experiences, such as being exposed to online sexual
content, aggressive content and other types of
unwanted content; inappropriate contacts; online
harassment and bullying; hacking; sharing personal
information; damage to reputation; and also viruses,
spam, pop-ups and online advertisements.
Furthermore, in our previous qualitative
investigation
32
, children said that they had been
bothered online by technical problems, such as when
the internet was not working or when the internet
connection was slow. That means that children’s
experiences reported in this section cover many
different kinds of online problems, from serious
problems (e.g., cyberbullying) to experiences with
little negative impact on the children (e.g., technical
problems).
The number of children reporting being bothered
by something online varies substantially among
countries, ranging between 7% (Slovakia) and
45% (Malta).
In some countries (Germany and Slovakia), less
than 10% of children aged 9–16 are bothered by
something online, but in the Czech Republic,
Malta, Romania, Serbia, Spain and Switzerland,
more than 30% children report the same.
In the EU Kids Online survey 2010, the
percentage of children who reported that they
had been bothered on the internet varied
between 6% and 25% across comparable
countries. In this EU Kids Online 2020 report, the
number of children who reported such
experiences was higher (between 7% and 45%;
Ave = 25%). Thus, the number of children who
reported that they had been bothered online
substantially increased in most comparable
countries (Czech Republic, Spain, France, Italy,
Lithuania, Poland and Romania) while it remained
31
Livingstone, S., Kirwil, L., Ponte, C., & Staksrud, E.
(2013). In their own words: What bothers children
online? With the EU Kids Online Network. EU Kids Online,
LSE. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/48357/
almost the same only in Germany, Estonia and
Norway.
Figure 33: Negative online experiences in the
past year, by country
*FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QF01 In the PAST YEAR, has anything EVER happened
online that bothered or upset you in some way (e.g., made
you feel upset, uncomfortable, scared or that you shouldn’t
have seen it)? Percentage of children who answered
yes
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
The number of boys reporting being upset by
something online ranges between 6% (Slovakia)
and 39% (Malta) (Figure 34). The percentage of
girls reporting the same problem ranges between
8% (Slovakia) and 52% (Malta).
In Malta and Switzerland, more than 40% of girls
report that they are bothered online.
32
Smahel, D., & Wright, M.F. (Eds.). (2014). Meaning of
online problematic situations for children: Results of
qualitative cross-cultural investigation in nine European
countries. EU Kids Online, LSE.
25
7
35
33
22
25
21
45
23
11
14
17
34
25
9
34
38
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
| 46 |
Figure 34: Negative online experiences in the
past year, by gender
*FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QF01 In the PAST YEAR, has anything EVER happened
online that bothered or upset you in some way (e.g., made
you feel upset, uncomfortable, scared or that you shouldn’t
have seen it)? Percentage of children who answered
yes
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
In the Czech Republic, Malta, Portugal, and
Serbia there are small differences between boys
and girls (between 6 and 13 percentage points),
with more girls reporting that they are bothered
online than boys.
As Figure 35, shows, more older children report
experiencing negative online experiences. In all
countries except Portugal, more children in oldest
age category report such experience than
children in the youngest age category (Ave = 14
percentage points of difference).
Figure 35: Negative online experiences in the
past year, by age
*FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. Data not weighted.
QF01 In the PAST YEAR, has anything EVER happened
online that bothered or upset you in some way (e.g., made
you feel upset, uncomfortable, scared or that you shouldn’t
have seen it)? Percentage of children who answered
yes
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
26
8
38
33
26
24
21
52
25
11
13
19
34
27
11
38
41
23
6
33
32
18
26
22
39
21
10
15
15
34
23
7
30
36
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
34
54
10
52
41
37
25
36
29
49
32
19
23
17
29
41
35
11
50
52
27
43
9
47
36
36
21
25
25
49
26
8
13
23
18
30
22
13
35
39
20
4
31
27
21
18
13
40
15
8
10
10
34
22
3
25
33
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 47 |
How frequent are negative online
experiences?
To better understand children’s negative online
experiences, we asked those children who reported
such an experience how often it happened within the
past year.
Most children report being bothered online only
sporadically (
a few times
), ranging between 4%
(Slovakia) and 30% (Malta).
A lower number of children are bothered online
at least every month
or more often: between 2%
(Germany) and 15% (Malta).
More than a tenth of children are bothered online
at least every month or more often in
Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Malta and
Serbia.
Figure 36: Frequency of negative online
experiences in the past year, by country
*FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QF02 In the PAST YEAR, has anything EVER happened
online that bothered or upset you in some way? In the PAST
YEAR, how often did this happen? Percentage of children
who answered
yes
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Knowing what to do if someone
acts online in a way children don’t
like
Encountering other people whose behaviour children
may find wrong, inappropriate or even aggressive is
among the online experiences that may upset
children. It is important to know whether children
know how to handle such situations. Without such
perceived self-efficacy, children may avoid being
included in many communicative activities online. On
the other hand, if they feel that they do have such
skills, they may be more prone to engage in online
interactions, believing they can handle any bothering
situation. Therefore, we asked the children how often
the following applied to them:
I know what to do if someone acts online in a way I
don’t like.
In all of the countries, most of the children
often
or
always
believe they know how to react to the
online behaviours of others they don’t like.
Between 26% (Lithuania) and 49% (Norway) say
they
always
know how to do this (Ave = 39%).
However, between 6% (Lithuania) and 29%
(Spain)
never
know how to react in these
situations (Ave = 13%).
There are no substantial gender differences (all
below 4 percentage points) comparing children
who
never
feel self-efficient in handling such
situations and those who do at least
sometimes
(Figure 37). Except for Switzerland where the
difference is 6 percentage points. Considering
that there are almost no differences, we don’t
include the figure here.
In most of the countries there
are no gender differences in
overall negative online
experiences.
7
3
13
8
5
8
4
15
7
4
3
5
9
7
2
12
11
17
4
23
25
17
17
17
30
16
6
11
12
24
17
7
23
27
75
93
65
67
78
75
79
55
77
90
86
83
66
76
91
66
62
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% At least every month
% A few times
% Not experienced this
| 48 |
Figure 37: Knowing how to react to online
behaviours of others which children do not like
*FI/RU/VL/CH: Full age range not available.
QD2c How often does the following apply to you? I know
what to do if someone acts online in a way I don’t like.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
In most of the countries more of the older
children know how to react to the online
behaviours of others that they do not like (Figure
38). In the youngest age category, this applies
for between 32% (Spain) and 67% (Norway)
(Ave = 54%). In the oldest age category, it is
between 62% (Russia) and 88% (Estonia) (Ave =
77%).
Figure 38: Knowing how to react to online
behaviours of others which children do not
like, by age
*FI/RU/VL/CH: Full age range not available. Data not
weighted.
QD2c How often does the following apply to you? I know
what to do if someone acts online in a way I don’t like.
Percentage of children who answered
always
or
often
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
39
31
46
41
46
39
49
44
26
39
46
37
41
42
32
34
28
32
17
25
23
26
30
28
40
27
32
29
15
30
36
26
20
27
17
21
20
20
13
16
29
20
15
21
16
19
24
25
13
11
20
13
12
15
8
12
6
14
8
13
29
9
8
16
0 50 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
% Always % Often % Sometimes % Never
77
74
68
62
75
70
77
78
86
74
71
72
86
80
86
77
88
87
77
77
72
74
70
54
72
76
77
70
85
77
68
70
82
65
84
71
75
67
66
70
54
47
46
54
51
53
67
65
60
53
66
55
32
58
55
42
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 49 |
Coping with a negative experience
- who children talk to
Negative experiences online can cause different
reactions. Children may cope with the situation
themselves, such as by blocking the person, they
may talk to other people, use technical measures,
confront the stressor or aggressor, or may just ignore
the problem
33
.
In this EU Kids Online survey, we asked children (a)
who they talked to about the problem and (b) how
they reacted after experiencing the problem.
As noted above, children experience a broad range
of problematic situations online, from simple
technical problems to possible serious harm.
Therefore, the reactions of the children may vary in
relation to the nature of the problem.
Table 5 shows who children talk to about a negative
online experience. This was only reported by children
who had been bothered online. We asked these
children the following question:
The last time something happened online that
bothered or upset you, did you talk to any of these
people about it?
Table 5: Who children talked to after having negative online experiences, by country
%
Mother or
father
%
Brother or
sister
%
A friend
around my
age
%
A teacher
%
Someone
whose job
it is to
help
children
%
Another
adult I
trust
%
I didn’t
talk to
anyone
*CH
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
CZ
31
15
56
3
1
5
24
DE
44
11
51
3
1
3
16
EE
46
10
38
6
1
5
30
ES
47
31
69
12
8
32
21
*FI
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
FR
59
23
39
4
6
6
4
HR
52
13
39
3
0
3
14
IT
45
11
44
4
0
1
22
LT
40
11
57
3
2
7
15
MT
42
14
39
8
2
9
21
NO
34
8
50
6
5
5
25
PL
34
23
71
13
9
25
9
PT
37
13
44
7
1
10
26
RO
39
13
43
5
3
10
17
RS
31
16
43
3
2
6
26
*RU
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
SK
31
9
54
2
0
2
22
*VL
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Ave
40
14
50
5
3
9
19
*FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. CH: Question not asked.
QF04: The last time something happened online that bothered or upset you, did you talk to anyone of these people about it?
Percentage of children who answered
yes.
Base: Children aged 9-16 who have had negative online experiences.
33
Parris, L., Varjas, K., Meyers, J., & Cutts, H. (2012). High
school students’ perceptions of coping with
cyberbullying. Youth & Society, 44(2), 284–306.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X11398881
| 50 |
In the majority of the countries, the most
frequent people children talk to are parents
(between 31% in the Czech Republic and Serbia
to 59% in France; Ave = 41%) or friends
(between 38% in Estonia and 71% in Poland, Ave
= 49%).
Most children prefer to talk to a parent in Estonia,
France, and Croatia; on the other hand, in the
Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Romania and
Spain, they mostly talk to a friend.
In all of the countries only a minority of the
children talk to teachers (between 2% and 13%;
Ave = 5%) or to a professional whose job it is to
help children (0% to 9%; Ave = 3%).
Some children also report talking to another adult
they trust, although in most countries only 10%
or fewer children report this (between 1% and
32%; Ave = 9%). However, in Spain and Poland,
more than 25% children talk about their
experience with a trusted adult.
Finally, in almost all of the countries there are
children who do not talk to anyone, their number
ranging between 4% (France) and 30% (Estonia)
(Ave = 19%).
Coping with negative experiences:
how children react
Besides talking about negative online experiences
with someone, children may also react in other ways.
We asked children who report they had been
bothered or upset by something online the following
question:
The last time you had problems with something or
someone online that bothered or upset you in some
way, did you do any of these things afterwards?
As Table 6 shows, children were asked about
different kinds of reactions, from active behaviour
(e.g., reporting the problem) to passive behaviour
(e.g., ignoring the problem).
Between 4% (France) and 56% (Poland) of
children report that they ignored the problem
when it occurred. In all of the countries (except
for France), more than a fifth of the children said
they ignore the problem. In Poland and Spain,
more than half of the children reacted in this way.
Often-used strategies were closing the window or
app (between 20% in France and 60% in Poland)
and blocking the person (between 18% in Italy
and Romania and 58% in Poland).
Between 4% (Italy) and 33% (Poland) of children
felt a bit guilty about what went wrong.
After such a negative experience, some children
also stopped using the internet for a while. This
reaction was reported by 9% (Italy) to 26%
(Switzerland) children.
Between 3% (Italy) and 35% (Poland) of children
reported the problem online.
Points to consider
Quite a high percentage of children report that
they had been bothered or upset by something
online (7% to 45% overall). In most of the
countries this percentage increased from the EU
Kids Online survey in 2010. However, the
interpretation of these high percentages and the
substantial increase from 2010 is quite complex.
As noted in the beginning of this section, reported
experiences comprise serious ones (e.g., bullying
and harmful content) as well as those without a
larger negative impact (e.g., technical problems).
The online environment has dramatically changed
in recent years, with children more often using
mobile phones to access the internet (see
‘Access’). This might also cause a change in the
structure of the problems that upset children. For
example, children may experience more adverts
on their mobile phones or more technical
problems with a missing or slow internet
connection.
Thus, in this section we show that children in
most of the countries experience more problems
online currently than in 2010, but we do not know
what kind of problems they are experiencing
more of. The following sections of this report will
help us to better understand which problems
children experience these days, and what might
have made them upset online.
Future research should also investigate in more
depth what kind of problems make children upset
online when they use different devices to access
the internet. Did the new problems arise with the
use of mobile phones to access the internet or
with smart toys? Further qualitative investigation
could answer such questions.
The various online experiences might have a
different impact on the children, not only in terms
of the amount of impact (how much the children
are upset), but also in terms of time (how long
children are upset). Future research could reveal
the short- and long-term impacts of different
online experiences on children’s well-being.
| 51 |
Table 6: How children react after having negative online experiences, by country
I ignored the problem
or hoped the problem
would go away by itself
I closed the
window or app
I felt a bit guilty about
what went wrong
I tried to get the other
person to leave me
alone
I tried to get back
at the other person
I stopped using the
internet for a while
I deleted any messages
from the other person
I changed my
privacy
or contact settings
I blocked the person
from contacting me
I reported the
problem online
CH
46
36
22
28
16
26
24
19
44
25
CZ
44
36
17
18
7
11
21
13
35
12
DE
25
30
16
25
5
4
28
13
30
7
EE
36
41
6
12
4
9
12
5
19
6
ES
54
52
28
56
19
22
35
26
54
16
FI*
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
FR
4
20
11
22
7
8
18
12
33
21
HR
24
56
8
14
12
5
14
19
34
10
IT
28
37
4
14
6
9
15
9
18
3
LT
24
42
10
13
4
21
22
9
35
4
MT
33
30
16
11
8
7
17
14
30
11
NO
28
25
10
16
5
6
10
4
20
16
PL
56
60
33
55
23
20
28
31
58
35
PT
43
29
13
20
10
10
14
11
35
9
RO
45
29
13
16
6
6
13
8
18
7
RS
24
23
7
11
6
7
15
7
31
10
RU*
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
SK
23
30
13
11
5
12
25
20
46
7
VL*
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Ave
34
36
14
21
9
11
19
14
34
12
*FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QF05: The last time you had problems with something or someone online that bothered or upset you in some way, did you do
any of these things afterwards? Percentage of children who answered
yes
.
Base: Children aged 9-16 who have had negative online experiences.
| 52 |
Online aggression
and cyberbullying
Cyberbullying, as well as bullying experienced offline,
is one of the often discussed topics related to
children’s development. Considering that bullying,
i.e., aggressive acts aimed at an individual or group,
has negative physical, psychological and academic
effects
34
, it is important to know how many children
experience victimisation and how many have been
involved as aggressors themselves.
Prior evidence has shown that online and offline
bullying among young people is often interconnected
– those who are involved in online forms of bullying
are often involved in offline forms of bullying as
well
35
. Thus, to contextualise the findings, we will
present the results relating to both online and offline
aggression and bullying. Nevertheless, it should be
noted that cyberbullying has several specific features
that differentiate it from offline aggression. The
attacks can come from any place at any time and the
victim can be reached even in the relative safety of
their own homes
36
. Public attacks can have a
substantially wider audience than offline ones
37
. All
actors, including perpetrator(s), the victim(s) and
other witnesses, can be mutually distant and
invisible, even anonymous. As a result, they lack
immediate and direct feedback about the impact on
the victim, and may feel more disinhibited in their
responses
38
. And the hurtful and harmful material
published online can be easily copied, stored and
shared through many channels (such as a social
networking site), opening up the possibility for
further harm due to repeated exposure of the
material
39
.
It should also be stressed that not all acts of
aggression should be labelled as bullying. In line with
prior research, cyberbullying is dominantly defined by
criteria that have been established for bullying
34
Kowalski, R.M., & Limber, S.P. (2013). Psychological,
physical, and academic correlates of cyberbullying and
traditional bullying. Journal of Adolescent Health, 53(1),
S13–S20.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2012.09.018
35
Waasdorp, T.E., & Bradshaw, C.P. (2015). The overlap
between cyberbullying and traditional bullying. Journal
of Adolescent Health, 56(5), 483–8.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.12.002
36
Tokunaga, R.S. (2010). Following you home from
school: A critical review and synthesis of research on
cyberbullying victimization. Computers in Human
Behavior, 26(3), 277–87.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2009.11.014
37
Pfetsch, J. (2016). Who is who in cyberbullying?
Conceptual and empirical perspectives on bystanders in
cyberbullying. In M.F. Wright (Ed.), A social-ecological
approach to cyberbullying (pp. 121–49). Nova Science
Publishers.
behaviour. These are: the victimisation is repeated
and happens over time; the harm is conducted
intentionally; and there is an asymmetric power
relationship between the aggressor(s) and victim(s)
40
41
.
Acknowledging this, the following definition of
bullying was offered to the children who were asked
if they had had experience with similar behaviour.
Sometimes children or teenagers say or do hurtful or
nasty things to someone and this can often be quite
a few times on different days over a period of time,
for example. This can include:
teasing someone in a way this person does not
like
hitting, kicking or pushing someone around
leaving someone out of things.
When people are hurtful or nasty to someone in this
way, it can happen:
face-to-face (in person)
by mobile phone (texts, calls, video clips)
on the internet (email, instant messaging, social
networking, chatrooms).
Note that this definition does not differentiate
between occasional acts of aggression and more
permanent and harmful cyberbullying. Thus, when
we present the answers to this question, we label it
‘online aggression’. To present the findings of
cyberbullying and offline bullying, we further focus
on the reported frequency of the aggression and the
resulting harm.
38
Kowalski, R.M., Giumetti, G.W., Schroeder, A.N., &
Lattanner, M.R. (2014). Bullying in the digital age: A
critical review and meta-analysis of cyberbullying
research among youth. Psychological Bulletin, 140(4),
1073–37. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035618
39
Kowalski, R.M., Giumetti, G.W., Schroeder, A.N., &
Lattanner, M.R. (2014). Bullying in the digital age: A
critical review and meta-analysis of cyberbullying
research among youth. Psychological Bulletin, 140(4),
1073–37. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035618
40
Ibid
41
Olweus, D. (1994). Bullying at school: Basic facts and
effects of a school based intervention program. Journal
of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 35(7), 1171–90.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1994.tb01229.x
| 53 |
Overall victimisation and
aggression
In the initial questions, the children were asked
whether they had been involved in any aggressive
behaviour in the past year – as a victim and as an
aggressor. This may have happened both offline and
online.
Specifically, following the definition above, we asked:
In the PAST YEAR, has anyone EVER treated you in
such a hurtful or nasty way? In the PAST YEAR, have
you EVER TREATED someone else in a hurtful or
nasty way?
In all the countries, more children report being a
victim than being an aggressor (see Figure 39).
However, there is substantial variation across the
countries concerning these experiences.
The prevalence of victimisation ranges between
7% (Slovakia) and 40% (Poland). In most
countries, more than 20% children experienced
victimisation.
The number of children reporting aggression
ranges between 3% (Slovakia) and 38%
(Poland). The number of perpetrators ranges
between 10% and 20% in most countries.
In only three countries, the victimisation
prevalence is 10% or less – Slovakia, Croatia and
Italy. In these countries, and in Lithuania and
France, the same applies for aggression.
In the majority of the countries there is no
substantial gender difference in victimisation or
aggression (i.e., only 5 percentage points or less)
(Figure 40). Nevertheless, in Switzerland France
and Malta, slightly more girls are victimised than
boys (differences between 7 and 8 percentage
points). There is no country where boys would be
victimised more.
The opposite trend applied for aggression, where
in the Czech Republic, Spain, Poland and Romania
more boys are aggressors (differences of
between 6 and 9 percentage points), while in no
country do girls report such an experience more
than boys (Figure 42).
The age differences are not consistent across the
countries Figure 41 and Figure 43). In two
countries (Malta and Poland), the victimisation
substantially increases with age. But in Romania,
for instance, the age group that reports the most
victimisation as well as aggression are those aged
12–14. In France, the oldest age category (15–
16) reports the lowest number of victimised
children, but the opposite applied for aggression,
where the least number of aggressors is among
those aged 9–11.
Figure 39: Aggression and victimization in the
past year (on- or offline), by country
*FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QF20 In the PAST YEAR, has anyone EVER treated you in
such a hurtful or nasty way? And QF28 In the PAST YEAR,
have you EVER TREATED someone else in a hurtful or nasty
way? Percentage of children who answered
yes
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
23
7
26
32
24
40
22
34
17
10
8
24
34
25
25
25
24
14
3
17
19
16
38
11
20
7
7
4
10
20
15
12
12
18
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Aggressors % Victims
| 54 |
Figure 40: Victimization in the past year (on-
or offline), by gender
*FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QF20 In the PAST YEAR, has anyone EVER treated you in
such a hurtful or nasty way? Percentage of children who
answered
yes
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Figure 41: Victimization in the past year (on-
or offline), by age
*FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. Data not weighted.
QF20 In the PAST YEAR, has anyone EVER treated you in
such a hurtful or nasty way? Percentage of children who
answered
yes
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
25
7
29
31
26
43
24
38
17
11
7
28
36
24
26
26
28
22
6
24
35
21
38
20
30
17
10
8
21
31
26
24
24
20
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
27
28
7
43
38
30
28
49
22
41
16
13
14
16
36
36
22
25
28
28
27
35
10
41
31
37
23
44
25
37
19
8
7
28
26
32
29
28
26
29
20
2
13
29
21
33
20
27
15
12
5
28
34
23
22
22
16
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 55 |
Figure 42: Aggression in the past year (on- or
offline), by gender
*FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QF28 In the PAST YEAR, have you EVER TREATED someone
else in a hurtful or nasty way? Percentage of children who
answered
yes
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Figure 43: Aggression in the past year (on- or
offline), by age
*FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. Data not weighted.
QF28 In the PAST YEAR, have you EVER TREATED someone
else in a hurtful or nasty way? Percentage of children who
answered
yes
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
12
3
15
15
15
33
9
21
5
6
2
9
17
12
12
9
17
16
3
19
24
18
41
14
19
9
6
7
12
23
17
12
15
19
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
20
4
29
23
21
53
19
26
9
5
8
15
30
18
11
20
30
16
4
21
26
16
41
11
22
7
15
4
7
19
19
15
14
21
10
2
6
13
14
27
10
16
4
5
2
10
17
9
9
6
11
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 56 |
Frequency of bullying
victimisation online and offline
After the question on general experiences with
aggression, those children who said that they had
been victimised were further asked about the
frequency of this experience, both online and offline.
The following findings thus apply only to the children
who were victimised and not to the whole sample. In
both an online and offline context, the most common
is sporadic victimisation, which happens only a few
times (see Figure 44 and Figure 45).
Figure 44: Frequency of offline victimization,
by country
*FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QF21a In the PAST YEAR, how often did this happen in any
of the following ways? In person face-to-face (a person who
is together with you in the same place at the same time).
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
If we want to focus on bullying, which is defined
by repeated and longer experiences of
victimisation, we should consider the group of
children who experience victimisation at least
every month.
Among the children, the rates of children bullied
offline (monthly) ranges between 2% (Slovakia)
and 13% (Malta) (Ave = 7%). Online bullying
victimisation ranges between 1% (Slovakia) and
13% (Poland) (Ave = 5%). Overall, in almost all
the countries, less than 10% of the children are
bullied online.
Considering that experience of bullying
victimisation is not very common, age and gender
differences are only very small (below or equal to
5 percentage points). The figures with age and
gender differences are not included here.
Figure 45: Frequency of online victimization,
by country.
*FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QF21 In the PAST YEAR, how often did this happen in any
of the following ways? Via a mobile phone or internet,
computer, tablet, etc.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
7
2
4
7
8
11
5
13
5
3
3
7
10
7
6
10
6
11
3
13
15
11
14
13
11
9
7
3
14
15
13
18
10
10
82
96
83
78
81
76
83
76
86
90
95
79
76
81
77
80
84
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% At least every month
% A few times
% Never
5
1
6
7
6
13
3
11
4
2
2
2
7
6
3
7
5
9
4
13
15
8
13
11
10
7
3
4
8
9
11
12
8
11
86
95
81
78
85
74
86
79
90
95
95
90
83
83
84
86
84
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% At least every month
% A few times
% Never
| 57 |
Harm from online victimisation
Length and repetition of victimisation are not the only
criteria that should be considered in interpreting the
nature of victimisation experiences; resulting harm is
also important. Therefore, we asked children who
reported online victimisation about the perceived
impact of such an experience, specifically:
Thinking of the LAST TIME someone treated you in a
hurtful or nasty way ONLINE, how did you feel?
Children could answer
I was not upset, I was a little
upset, I was fairly upset
and
I was very upset
. The
percentages are again presented only with regard to
the subsample consisting of children victimised online
(at least a few times).
Figure 46: Harm from online victimisation, by
country
*FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. HR/IT: Question
not asked.
QF24 Thinking of the LAST TIME someone treated you in a
hurtful or nasty way ONLINE, how did you feel?
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet and who
answered
a few times, at least every month, at least every
week,
or
daily or almost daily
to question on online
victimisation.
Between 4% (Germany) and 33% (Serbia) of the
children say they were not upset after online
victimisation (Ave = 20%). Therefore, we can
presume that these children may have
encountered something aggressive that was not
bullying.
On the other hand, between 9% (Lithuania) and
29% (Switzerland) of the children say they were
very upset after the incident (Ave = 19%). In
these cases, we may presume that the attacks
were more severe and could leave more intense
harm.
In general, while about a fifth of the children
victimised online report no harm, a fifth report
quite intense harm.
If we focus on the comparison between those
reporting no harm and those who report at least
some level of harm (at least a bit upset), in all
countries except Lithuania, more girls report
harm than boys (Ave = 19 percentage points of
gender difference).
The age pattern was not so consistent. In some
countries, older children report harm (Poland,
Malta and Switzerland). In others, the trend is the
reverse (Czech Republic, Estonia, Norway,
Portugal, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia).
However, again, due to the low prevalence of the
phenomenon, the exact percentages should be
interpreted with caution.
19
17
13
17
20
23
16
28
9
28
20
12
19
19
29
25
39
16
23
15
18
47
27
24
23
23
16
36
19
19
36
31
38
41
36
34
26
30
48
25
35
41
41
40
35
20
14
33
19
29
25
11
15
19
24
22
32
4
22
17
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
*IT
*HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% I was very upset % I was fairly upset
% I was a little upset % I was not upset
| 58 |
Figure 47: Harm from online victimisation (at
least a bit upset), by gender.
*FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. HR/IT: Question
not asked.
QF24 Thinking of the LAST TIME someone treated you in a
hurtful or nasty way ONLINE, how did you feel? Percentage
of children who answered
I was a little upset, I was fairly
upset,
or
I was very upset.
Base: All children 9-16 who answered
a few times, at least
every month, at least every week,
or
daily or almost daily
to question on online victimisation.
Figure 48: Harm from online victimisation (at
least a bit upset), by age.
*FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. HR/IT: Question
not asked.
QF24 Thinking of the LAST TIME someone treated you in a
hurtful or nasty way ONLINE, how did you feel? Percentage
of children who answered
I was a little upset, I was fairly
upset,
or
I was very upset.
Base: All children 9-16 who answered
a few times, at least
every month, at least every week,
or
daily or almost daily
to question on online victimisation.
89
100
77
90
89
91
100
88
78
80
86
90
97
90
88
70
67
56
73
55
64
80
79
84
73
68
49
94
68
76
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
*IT
*HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
78
77
83
68
62
74
67
84
80
93
86
74
69
78
61
91
75
100
78
84
91
76
68
81
73
71
89
81
78
80
50
79
67
98
79
81
82
100
77
86
76
74
100
85
81
74
76
77
97
85
60
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
*IT
*HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 59 |
Frequency of bullying online and
offline
Analogous to victimisation, we also asked children
who reported involvement as aggressors about the
frequency of such behaviour, both offline and online
(see Figure 49 and Figure 50).
Figure 49: Frequency of offline aggression, by
country.
*FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. CH: Question not
asked.
QF29a In the PAST YEAR, how often have you TREATED
someone else in any of the following ways? In person face-
to-face (a person who is together with you in the same place
at the same time).
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
A similar pattern as in victimisation is related to
bullying perpetration, in which monthly
experience (Ave = 3% for both offline and online
bullying) is less common than sporadic
aggression (Ave = 7% offline bullying, Ave = 5%
online bullying).
The number of offline bullies ranges between 0%
(Italy) and 9% (Poland). The number of online
bullies ranges between 0 (Italy and Slovakia) and
11% (Poland).
Considering that experience of bullying
perpetration is not very common, age and gender
differences are only very small (below or equal to
5 percentage points). These figures are not
included here.
Figure 50: Frequency of online aggression, by
country.
*FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. CH: Question not
asked.
QF29b In the PAST YEAR, how often have you TREATED
someone else in any of the following ways? Via a mobile
phone or internet, computer, tablet, etc.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
3
1
4
5
3
9
1
5
1
0
1
2
3
4
1
4
7
2
9
11
9
16
6
8
4
0
2
7
12
8
10
6
90
98
87
84
88
75
93
87
95
100
97
92
85
88
89
90
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
% At least every month
% A few times
% Never
3
0
4
5
3
11
1
5
1
0
1
1
3
3
1
3
5
2
8
9
6
13
5
7
3
1
2
4
7
6
5
4
92
98
89
86
91
76
94
88
97
99
97
95
91
91
94
93
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
% At least every month
% A few times
% Never
| 60 |
Points to consider
The findings show that the countries vary in the
number of victimised children and children who
were involved in aggression. In general, there are
no substantial gender differences in either
behaviour, although there were inconsistent
differences related to age.
Most children who are victimised or who are
aggressors say that this happens only
sporadically. In most of the countries, behaviour
that could be labelled as bullying, that is
happening at least every month, is reported by
less than a tenth of the children.
We considered the frequency of the occurrence
of victimisation and aggression as an important
factor in distinguishing between acts of
aggression and bullying. However, especially in
relation to online bullying, we should
acknowledge that sporadic incidents might also
have a significant impact on children’s well-being.
For instance, one act of publishing harmful
material can be very harmful, especially if it
reaches a large audience.
Thus, resulting harm should also be considered in
relation to victimisation. About a fifth of the
children victimised online report no resulting
harm while about a fifth say they were very upset
after the experience. In general, more girls than
boys say they were harmed.
With regard to harm, it is important to consider
that it can be connected to the severity of the
incident itself as well as to the vulnerability or
resilience of the child. Therefore, although it is
useful to use harm as a criterion for assessing the
experience, it is also important to acknowledge
that children differ in their emotional responses
to risk experiences.
Finally, it is important to focus on bullying
behaviour, i.e., acts that are more severe and
have more detrimental effects on well-being. So
far, many initiatives have helped in the
prevention and intervention of such behaviour,
and these efforts should continue. Nevertheless,
we should not diminish children’s experiences
with acts of online and offline aggression that are
less severe. These also constitute an important
part of children’s experiences and can affect the
development of their attitudes and behaviour.
Thus, we advise that these experiences are also
addressed and that children are helped to
understand and to respond to these accordingly.
| 61 |
Harmful content
In this section, we present six different types of
harmful content (see Table 7 for an overview). Each
of these is distinctive and might be site-specific,
although some websites may contain more types of
harmful content, such as violent images, ways of
physically harming and hate messages. Some of this
content might be user-generated, i.e., posted by
internet users themselves, while some may also be
professional and even presented on various media –
e.g., hate messages could be also be part of specific
political campaigns. In this research, we asked the
children the following:
On the internet, people discuss things that may not
be good for you. Here are some questions about
these kinds of things. In the PAST YEAR, have you
seen online content or online discussions where
people talk about or show any of these things?
This question was asked only of the older children,
so we present only findings from children aged
12–16.
Table 7: Harmful content: children (aged 12-16) who answered at least monthly, by country
Ways of
physically
harming or
hurting
themselves
Ways of
committing
suicide
Ways to be very
thin
Hate messages
that attack
certain groups
or individuals
Their
experiences of
taking drugs
Gory or violent
images
CH
9
5
8
13
14
10
CZ
18
10
17
25
15
17
DE
2
2
3
4
3
6
EE
7
5
10
14
7
5
ES
8
7
6
17
13
14
*FI
18
8
10
17
10
11
FR
7
4
9
8
6
7
HR
9
6
9
11
7
11
IT
4
4
6
10
7
12
*LT
-
-
-
-
-
-
MT
10
12
12
18
12
15
NO
8
5
12
16
8
9
PL
19
19
32
48
21
28
PT
10
9
12
17
13
15
RO
8
12
12
18
13
18
RS
18
11
17
24
16
23
*RU
16
8
25
24
11
17
SK
2
2
5
8
4
6
*VL
11
8
9
20
16
16
Ave
10
8
12
17
11
13
*FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted. LT: Full age range not available.
QF50 In the PAST YEAR, have you seen online content or online discussions where people talk about or show any of these things?
Percentage of children who answered
at least every month, at least every week,
or
daily or almost daily
.
Base: All children aged 12-16 who use the internet.
Children answered how often they had seen the
content. We did not differentiate if the content was
seen intentionally or unintentionally, and if the
content was user-generated or not. We also did not
measure the impact of seeing such content.
However, we know from previous research that there
is a strong relationship between online exposure to
| 62 |
harmful content and the internet user’s engagement
in offline risky behaviour
42
.
In the survey, we asked about overall exposure to six
types of harmful content in the past year. In Table 7
the percentages of children who see respective
content
at least monthly
or more often are
presented.
Overall, the most often reported harmful content
children were exposed to
at least monthly
were
hate messages (Ave = 17%), followed by gory or
violent images (Ave = 13%), content suggesting
ways to be very thin (Ave = 12%), content
describing experiences with taking drugs (Ave =
11%), ways of physically harming themselves
(Ave = 10%) and ways of committing suicide
(Ave = 8%).
However, differences between exposure to
diverse harmful content is quite low in many
countries – in Germany, any kind of content seen
at least monthly was between 2% and 6% of the
children, or in Slovakia, between 2% and 8%.
In some countries, the number of children
exposed to harmful content at least monthly is
quite varied, depending on the type of content.
In Poland, 48% of the children see hate
messages at least monthly or more, but ways of
physically harming or committing suicide are seen
by 19% of the children.
In general, it seems that exposure to different
types of harmful content is interrelated – if
children report they see some content, it is more
likely that they also see other types of harmful
content.
Ways of physically harming or
hurting themselves
To better understand children’s experiences with
exposure to harmful content, we will present three
types of harmful content in more detail. The first type
comprises materials or discussions concerning Ways
of physically harming or hurting themselves. Figure
51 presents how often children have seen such
content in the past year.
The number of children who report seeing such
content
at least every month
or more often
ranges between 2% (Germany and Slovakia) and
19% (Poland). Sporadic exposure, i.e., a few
times a year, is more common, experienced by
11% (Germany) to 37% (Russia) of children.
The majority of children in most countries say
that they have not seen ways of physically
harming or hurting themselves on the internet in
42
Branley, D.B., & Covey, J. (2017). Is exposure to online
content depicting risky behavior related to viewers’ own
risky behavior offline? Computers in Human Behavior,
75, 283–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.05.023
the past year (between 46% and 88%). Only in
four countries (Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia,
Finland and Russia) is such content seen at least
a few times by over half of the children.
Figure 51: Harmful content: Ways of
physically harming themselves, by country
*FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted. LT: Full age range not
available.
QF50a In the PAST YEAR, have you seen online content or
online discussions where people talk about or show any of
these things? Ways of physically harming or hurting
themselves.
Base: All children aged 12-16 who use the internet.
Figure 52 shows the differences between boys and
girls who reported that they have seen a discussion
from people of ways of physically harming or hurting
themselves on the internet in the past year at least
monthly or more often.
10
11
2
16
18
8
10
19
8
10
4
9
7
18
8
7
2
18
9
25
28
18
37
34
27
34
31
25
25
18
21
13
35
21
22
11
36
21
64
61
80
47
47
64
56
50
67
65
77
71
81
47
71
71
88
46
71
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
*LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% At least every month or more often
% A few times
% Never
| 63 |
Figure 52: Harmful content: Ways of
physically harming themselves, by gender
*FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted. LT: Full age range not
available.
QF50a In the PAST YEAR, have you seen online content or
online discussions where people talk about or show any of
these things? Ways of physically harming or hurting
themselves. Percentage of children who answered
at least
every month, at least every week,
or
daily or almost daily
.
Base: All children aged 12-16 who use the internet.
The gender differences range between 1
percentage point (Slovakia, Italy, Portugal and
Flanders) and 11 percentage points (Finland). In
most countries there are almost none or very low
gender differences in exposure to this type of
content (equal or below 5 percentage points).
In three countries, slightly more boys report that
they see this type of harmful content than girls:
Estonia (6 percentage points difference), Finland
(11 percentage points difference) and Poland (9
percentage points difference).
Figure 53: Harmful content: Ways of
physically harming themselves, by age
*FI/RU/VL/LT: Full age range not available. FI/RU/VL: Data
not weighted.
QF50a In the PAST YEAR, have you seen online content or
online discussions where people talk about or show any of
these things? Ways of physically harming or hurting
themselves. Percentage of children who answered
at least
every month, at least every week,
or
daily or almost daily
.
Base: All children aged 12-16 who use the internet.
11
10
2
15
16
9
10
24
11
9
4
7
4
23
10
10
2
20
10
10
11
1
17
21
8
11
15
6
11
5
10
9
12
7
4
1
16
8
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
*LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
14
13
0
22
25
14
15
28
15
15
6
5
12
8
24
13
11
2
24
14
8
10
3
11
14
5
7
15
4
7
4
6
6
11
7
5
1
14
7
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
*LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 64 |
Figure 53 presents the differences between children
aged 12–14 and 15–16 who have been exposed to
harmful content.
In most of the countries more older than younger
children report seeing ways of physically harming
or hurting themselves on the internet at least
monthly.
The difference between age groups varies
between 6 percentage points (Estonia, Spain) and
13 percentage points (Finland and Poland).
The differences between age groups are higher
in countries where more children report exposure
to such content.
Ways to be very thin
The second type of harmful content presented in
more detail is related to problematic eating habits
and eating disorders, such as anorexia or bulimia. We
asked children whether in the past year they had
seen the following content or discussions:
Ways to
be very thin (such as being anorexic or bulimic, or
thinspiration).
We should note, however, that we do
not know if children reported the content that is really
related to eating disorders or if they reported content
that is related to ‘healthy lifestyles’ or dieting. The
border between healthy and unhealthy content of
this type is narrow. However, we know that such type
of content can have a negative impact on children’s
body image
43
. Figure 54 shows how often children
have seen such content in the past year.
The number of children who see ways to be very
thin on the internet at least every month or more
often varies across countries, ranging between
3% (Germany) and 32% (Poland). Moreover,
between 15% (Spain) and 28% (Finland) of
children report they see this content a few times
a year.
In most of the countries, the majority of the
children report that they have not seen ways to
be very thin on the internet in the past year
(ranging between 45 and 80%). However, in two
countries, Poland and Russia, more than half of
the children report that they have seen such
content in the past year.
43
Smahel, D., Machackova, H., Smahelova, M., Cevelicek,
M., Almenara, C.A., & Holubciková, J. (2018). Digital
technology, eating behaviors, and eating disorders.
Springer.
Figure 54: Harmful content: Ways to be very
thin, by country
*FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted. LT: Full age range not
available.
QF50c In the PAST YEAR, have you seen online content or
online discussions where people talk about or show any of
these things? Ways to be very thin (such as being anorexic
or bulimic, or “thinspiration”). Percentage of children who
answered
at least every month, at least every week,
or
daily
or almost daily
.
Base: All children aged 12-16 who use the internet.
As we know also from previous research, there
are gender differences in exposure to pro-
anorexic content, with girls more likely seeing
such content
44
. As shown in Figure 55, in some
countries, gender differences are also present.
This applies for Switzerland, the Czech Republic,
Estonia, Finland, Norway, Poland, Serbia, and
Russia. In these countries, the difference
between boys and girls who have seen this
44
Almenara, C.A., Machackova, H., & Smahel, D. (2016).
Individual differences associated with exposure to ‘‘ana-
mia’’ websites: An examination of adolescents from 25
European countries. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and
Social Networking, 19(8), 475–80.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2016.0098
12
9
5
25
17
12
12
32
12
12
6
9
9
10
6
10
3
17
8
21
21
20
26
26
18
18
24
22
17
16
23
15
28
15
18
17
27
18
68
70
74
49
57
69
71
45
67
71
78
68
76
62
78
73
80
56
74
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
*LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% At least every month or more often
% A few times
% Never
| 65 |
content
at least every month
is ranging between
9 (Switzerland, Finland) to 15 (Czech Republic).
In other countries, the gender differences are
only small or negligible (equal or below 5
percentage points). The gender differences are
particularly low in countries with a low prevalence
of children reporting seeing such content. For
example, in Italy and Romania the difference
between girls and boys is only 1 and 2 percentage
points, respectively.
Figure 55: Harmful content: Ways to be very
thin, by gender
*FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted. LT: Full age range not
available.
QF50c In the PAST YEAR, have you seen online content or
online discussions where people talk about or show any of
these things? Ways to be very thin (such as being anorexic
or bulimic, or “thinspiration”). Percentage of children who
answered
at least every month, at least every week,
or
daily
or almost daily
.
Base: All children aged 12-16 who use the internet.
Figure 56: Harmful content: Ways to be very
thin in the past year, by age
*FI/RU/VL/LT: Full age range not available. FI/RU/VL: Data
not weighted.
QF50c In the PAST YEAR, have you seen online content or
online discussions where people talk about or show any of
these things? Ways to be very thin (such as being anorexic
or bulimic, or “thinspiration”). Percentage of children who
answered
at least every month, at least every week,
or
daily
or almost daily
.
Base: All children aged 12-16 who use the internet.
15
12
7
30
22
13
13
37
18
11
7
11
7
14
8
15
5
24
13
9
7
4
19
11
12
10
27
6
15
5
7
10
5
5
5
0
9
4
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
*LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
15
10
6
30
24
20
15
40
16
17
8
8
12
10
13
10
14
4
21
14
9
8
5
19
12
7
8
27
9
10
4
7
8
6
5
8
2
14
7
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
*LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 66 |
With regard to age differences (see Figure 56), in
most countries, older children report that they
have seen ways to be very thin on the internet at
least monthly in the past year more often than
younger children.
The differences between younger and older
children vary between 1 percentage point
(Slovakia) and 13 percentage points (Poland).
The differences over 10 percentage points
between younger and older children are in
Poland, Romania, Serbia and Russia.
Hate messages
The last type of harmful content we focus on in detail
are hate messages. Hate messages are related to
hate speech, which can be defined as all forms of
communication that spread or promote
discrimination, xenophobia and other forms of hatred
based on intolerance
45
. Hate messages and hate
speech can have at least three forms: (1) children are
exposed to hate messages that do not directly target
them; (2) children are victims of such hateful content
and feel they are targets of the content; and (3)
children are perpetrators of such content when they
create or post it.
In this report, we focused only on exposure to
cyberhate messages (more results from optional
questions on cyberhate victimisation and
perpetration will be available in the upcoming short
reports). Here, we provide findings from the question
asking if children had seen the following content or
discussions in the past year:
Hate messages that attack certain groups or
individuals (e.g., people of different colour, religion,
nationality or sexuality)
The results are summarised in Figure 57.
The countries vary in the number of children
seeing hate messages at least every month or
more often. The percentage ranges between 4%
(Germany) and 48% (Poland). Moreover,
between 11% and 31% of children see this
content a few times a year.
More than half of the children see hate content at
least
a few times
in the Czech Republic (54%),
Poland (59%) Russia (52%) and Flanders (51%).
On the other hand, in most of the countries, the
majority of the children say that they have not
seen hate messages in the last year (between 41
and 75%). In Germany and Slovakia, 74% and
75% of children have not seen such messages.
45
Council of Europe (2018). Hate speech. COE.
www.coe.int/en/web/freedom-expression/hate-speech
Figure 57: Harmful content: Hate messages,
by country
*FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted. LT: Full age range not
available.
QF50d In the PAST YEAR, have you seen online content or
online discussions where people talk about or show any of
these things? Hate messages that attack certain groups or
individuals (e.g., people of different religion, nationality, or
sexuality).
Base: All children aged 12-16 who use the internet.
Figure 58 displays the differences between boys and
girls who reported having seen hate messages
at
least every month
or more often.
In most of the countries, there are almost no
gender differences in exposure to this type of
harmful content.
In Poland, more girls than boys report seeing hate
messages at least every month or more often
(difference of 10 percentage points).
17
20
8
24
24
18
17
48
16
18
10
11
8
17
17
14
4
25
13
24
31
18
28
24
24
25
11
29
22
26
22
23
28
25
21
22
29
21
59
49
75
48
52
58
58
41
55
59
64
67
69
55
58
65
74
46
66
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
*LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% At least every month or more often
% A few times
% Never
| 67 |
Figure 58: Harmful content: Hate messages,
by gender
*FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted. LT: Full age range not
available.
QF50d In the PAST YEAR, have you seen online content or
online discussions where people talk about or show any of
these things? Hate messages that attack certain groups or
individuals (e.g., people of different religion, nationality, or
sexuality). Percentage of children who answered
at least
every month, at least every week,
or
daily or almost daily
.
Base: All children aged 12-16 who use the internet.
Figure 59 presents the differences between age
groups in exposure to hate messages at least every
month or more often.
Figure 59: Harmful content: Hate messages,
by age
*FI/RU/VL/LT: Full age range not available. FI/RU/VL: Data
not weighted.
QF50d In the PAST YEAR, have you seen online content or
online discussions where people talk about or show any of
these things? Hate messages that attack certain groups or
individuals (e.g., people of different religion, nationality, or
sexuality). Percentage of children who answered
at least
every month, at least every week,
or
daily or almost daily
.
Base: All children aged 12-16 who use the internet.
18
20
8
24
23
19
17
53
19
18
10
11
5
17
19
13
4
26
13
17
20
7
24
25
16
17
43
14
19
11
10
10
16
15
16
4
23
14
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
*LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
22
25
8
30
30
25
25
58
23
30
10
14
16
9
19
27
18
6
36
21
13
15
8
19
20
13
10
42
11
13
8
8
6
14
13
12
3
18
11
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
*LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 68 |
In almost all of the countries, older children
report seeing hate messages more often than
younger children. Difference between these two
age categories ranges between 6 (Italy, Estonia)
and 18 (Czech Republic) percentage points. The
only exception is Slovakia, where exposure to
hate messages is the same for younger and older
age groups.
In Poland and in Malta, more older children than
younger children report seeing hate messages
online (differences 16 and 17 percentage points,
respectively).
Points to consider
In this section, we investigated six types of
harmful content that children may be exposed to.
As the findings show, the children are most often
exposed to hate messages in most of the
countries. In some countries, however, similar
percentages of children are exposed to hate
messages as to other harmful content. This
particularly concerns countries with overall low
prevalence of exposure to harmful content, such
as Germany, where any kind of harmful content
is seen at least every month or more often by 2%
to 6% of the children.
The majority of the children in most of the
countries say that they have not seen any type of
harmful content online in the past year. However,
in some countries, over half of the children saw a
specific harmful content. For example, in four
countries (Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia and
Russia), ways of physically harming or hurting
themselves were seen by more than half of the
children in the last year.
There are only minor gender differences in
exposure to harmful content in the majority of the
countries. The only exception is exposure to
content showing ways to be very thin (pro-ana
materials), which is seen more by girls in most of
the countries, which corroborates previous
research
46
. With regard to age differences, more
older children are exposed to harmful content
than younger ones, suggesting that exposure is
probably linked to increasing online activities.
In further analyses, we found that exposure to
different types of harmful content is interrelated
– i.e., if a child see one type of content, it is more
likely that the same child will also see other types
of harmful content. Future research should ask
why exposure to different types of harmful
46
Almenara, C.A., Machackova, H., & Smahel, D. (2016).
Individual differences associated with exposure to ‘‘ana-
mia’’ websites: An examination of adolescents from 25
European countries. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and
Social Networking, 19(8), 475–80.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2016.0098
content is so interrelated. Do children see the
content on the same websites or platforms? Or
do similar types of children look for different
types of harmful content?
Future research could also investigate how much
of the exposure to harmful content is intentional
or unintentional. Researchers and policy-makers
should focus on how we can limit unintentional
access to harmful content.
Future research should also uncover other types
of harmful content that have not yet been
investigated but which may be already present
online. The online environment is quickly
transforming, and a qualitative investigation
could identify and understand the substance of
the harmful content that current children may be
exposed to.
| 69 |
Data misuse
Navigating the contemporary online and
offline world involves disseminating a variety
of data traces, and children are no exception.
As a consequence, children are likely to
experience forms of personal data misuse and
privacy-related risks in the context of
interpersonal, institutional and commercial
relations
47
. In the survey, we asked children
about seven types of data misuse (see
Table 8) and if they had experienced these in the past
year.
Specifically, we asked about personal data misuse
(
Somebody used my personal information in a way I
didn’t like, Somebody used my password to access
my information or to pretend to be me, Somebody
created a page or image about me that was hostile
or hurtful
), getting a virus or spyware on a used
device, problems regarding losing or spending money
online (I
spend too much money on in-app purchases
or online games, I lost money by being cheated on
the internet
), and being tracked through the device
(
Someone found out where I was because they
tracked my phone or device
).
The occurrence of data misuse differs with
regard to the type of negative experiences.
Table 8 shows how many children experience each
type of data misuse across all of the countries.
Table 8: Specific types of data misuse, by country
Somebody
used my
personal
information
in a way I
didn’t like
The device
(e.g., phone,
tablet,
computer) I
use got a
virus or
spyware
I lost money by
being cheated
on the internet
Somebody
used my
password to
access my
information or
to pretend to
be me
Somebody
created a
page or
image about
me that was
hostile or
hurtful
I spent too
much money
on in-app
purchases or
in online
games
Someone
found out
where I was
because
they tracked
my phone or
device
*CH
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
CZ
7
21
4
9
4
9
4
DE
5
7
1
2
4
6
4
EE
4
15
2
5
3
5
3
ES
8
15
3
9
3
8
3
*FI
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
FR
3
7
1
4
2
3
2
HR
2
10
1
3
1
4
1
IT
4
10
5
2
2
4
2
LT
3
11
2
4
2
2
2
MT
9
23
6
11
7
14
9
NO
3
7
3
4
2
9
8
PL
11
22
6
10
5
6
5
PT
7
17
5
8
3
7
4
RO
12
22
8
14
9
13
8
RS
6
17
4
11
5
5
3
*RU
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
SK
6
9
2
5
3
4
2
*VL
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Ave
7
14
4
7
4
7
5
*FI/RU/VL/CH: Full age range not available.
QF60 In the PAST YEAR, has any of the following happened to you on the internet? Percentage of children who answered
yes
.
47
Stoilova, M., Nadagiri, R., & Livingstone, S. (2019).
Children’s understanding of personal data and privacy
online – a systematic evidence mapping. Information,
Communication & Society.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2019.1657164
| 70 |
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Experiences with data misuse, apart from getting
a virus or spyware, were reported by fewer than
15% of the children in most of the countries. In
most cases, these types of data misuse were
reported by less than a tenth of the children
(ranging between 3% and 7%).
The most common type of personal data misuse
is getting a virus or spyware, reported by 7%
(Germany, France and Norway) to 23% (Malta)
of the children (Ave = 14%).
Being located by tracking a phone or device,
losing money by being cheated online and having
created a hurtful page or image is reported by
less than a tenth of the children in all of the
countries (Ave = between 4% and 5%).
Experiences with some types of
personal data misuse
In the survey, overall experiences with the misuse of
personal data were captured by three items:
Somebody used personal information in a way I
didn’t like, Somebody used my password to access
my information or to pretend to be me
and
Somebody created a page or image about me that
was hostile or hurtful.
In this section, we focus on
children who experienced at least one or more of
these types of personal data misuse.
Overall, in all of the countries, less than a fifth of
the children experience at least one of these three
misuses of personal data (Figure 60).
The number of children who report personal data
misuse varies across countries, ranging between
4% (Croatia) and 23% (Romania). With the
exceptions of Malta, Poland and Romania, 15%
or fewer children report such a negative
experience.
In eight countries (Germany, Estonia, France,
Croatia, Italy, Lithuania, Norway and Slovakia),
less than 10% of the children aged 9–16 report
some type of experience with personal data
misuse.
In most of the countries there are no substantial
gender differences in experienced personal data
misuse (equal to 5 percentage points or less)
(Figure 61). The only exception is Malta, where
data misuse is reported by 22% of boys and 15%
of girls.
On the other hand, in about half of the countries,
the overall experienced misuse of personal data
increases with age (Figure 62). Some kind of
personal data misuse is reported by 2% to 14%
of 9- to 11-year-olds, while the same is reported
by 3% to 26% of 12- to 14-year-olds, and by 6%
to 33% of 15- to 16-year-olds. In the Czech
Republic, Spain, Malta, Poland, Romania, Serbia
and Russia, 20% and more children aged 15–16
report some type of personal data misuse.
However, in Estonia, Croatia, Italy, Lithuania,
Norway and Portugal, the differences between
children in the youngest and oldest age
categories are 5 percentage points or less.
Figure 60: Personal data misuse, by country
*FI/RU/VL/CH: Full age range not available.
QF60 Percentage of children who answered
yes
to QF60 a,
d, or e.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
If we look at the three types of personal data
misuse separately (we don’t include the figures
based on these analyses here), using personal
information in a way children do not like is
reported more often by children in the oldest age
group compared to the youngest age group. In
the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Spain,
Malta, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, age
differences range between 6 and 14 percentage
11
9
15
23
12
19
7
19
7
5
4
7
14
9
7
14
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
| 71 |
points. However, in other countries, the
differences are not substantial, being 5
percentage points or less.
Misusing a password is reported more by 15- to
16-year-olds in the Czech Republic, Spain,
Romania and Serbia (differences between 8 and
13 percentage points).
Creating a hostile or hurtful page or image, an
experience that is generally not very common,
only varies by age in Romania, with the difference
of 11 percentage points between the youngest
and oldest age categories.
Figure 61: Personal data misuse, by gender
*FI/RU/VL/CH: Full age range not available.
QF60 Percentage of children who answered
yes
to QF60 a,
d, or e.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Figure 62: Personal data misuse, by age
*FI/RU/VL/CH: Full age range not available. FI/RU/VL: Data
not weighted.
QF60 Percentage of children who answered
yes
to QF60 a,
d, or e.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
11
11
13
21
11
17
7
15
6
4
4
6
15
9
9
14
12
7
17
24
14
20
7
22
8
6
4
8
14
9
6
15
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
% Boys % Girls
17
19
13
30
21
33
14
29
10
26
7
6
7
10
12
23
12
13
22
19
13
21
10
25
16
26
14
18
7
20
10
5
3
9
9
15
10
7
15
11
8
5
10
13
10
14
5
14
4
3
2
3
10
7
4
10
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 72 |
Getting a virus or spyware
Experience with the most common type of
data misuse, i.e., getting a virus or spyware,
ranges between 7% (Germany, France and
Norway) and 23% (Malta) (see
Table 8). In the Czech Republic, Malta, Poland and
Romania, more than a fifth of the children report
getting a virus or spyware.
In most of the countries, the gender differences
are not substantial, equal to or less than 5
percentage points (Figure 63). However, in the
Czech Republic, Poland, Portugal and Serbia, the
differences range between 9 and 11 percentage
points, with more boys than girls reporting
getting a virus or spyware.
In the youngest age group, the range of those
experiencing getting spyware is between 3%
(France and Germany) and 19% (Czech
Republic). Among 12- to 14-year-olds, the same
applies for 8% (Norway, Croatia, Germany, and
Finland) to 28% (Romania) of the children.
Among the oldest children, the range of these
experiences is between 8% (France) and 31%
(Poland) (Figure 64).
In Germany, Croatia, Malta, Norway, Poland,
Serbia and Slovakia, more children in the oldest
age category report having such an experience as
compared to the youngest age category
(difference between 6 and 14 percentage points).
In other countries, there was no substantial
relation to age.
The most common
experience related to data
misuse is getting a virus or
spyware.
Figure 63: The device (e.g., phone, tablet,
computer) got a virus or spyware, by gender
*FI/RU/VL/CH: Full age range not available.
QF60b In the PAST YEAR, has any of the following
happened to you on the internet? The device (e.g., phone,
tablet, computer) I use got a virus or spyware. Percentage
of children who answered
yes.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
12
8
12
20
13
16
7
22
13
11
9
7
14
13
7
16
16
9
21
24
22
27
8
24
9
9
11
8
17
18
6
25
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
% Boys % Girls
| 73 |
Figure 64: The device (e.g., phone, tablet,
computer) got a virus or spyware, by age
*FI/RU/VL/CH: Full age range not available. FI/RU/VL: Data
not weighted.
QF60b In the PAST YEAR, has any of the following
happened to you on the internet? The device (e.g., phone,
tablet, computer) I use got a virus or spyware. Percentage
of children who answered
yes.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Problematic situations related to
money
Many online spaces and platforms provide their
services for free, although many also require or
encourage payment. This may be problematic if
children feel that they do not have full control over
their spending. Another problematic situation may be
connected to the fact that the internet may be
misused to illegally get or steel money from the
users. In the survey we differentiate between these
types of risks, one connected with problematic
control, the other with experiences with wrongful or
even illegal situations, which results in money lost.
Only a small number of children experience losing
money by being cheated on the internet (Ave =
3%). Across the countries, such an experience
ranges between 1% (France, Germany and
Croatia) and 8% (Romania). In Malta, Poland and
Romania, the range is between 6% and 8% (see
Table).
Spending too much money on in-app purchases
or online games is only slightly more common
(Ave = 7%), varying between 4% (Lithuania) and
14% (Malta). In the Czech Republic, Germany,
Spain, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal and
Romania, between 6% and 14% children feel that
they spend too much money online.
There are no gender differences regarding losing
money by being cheated online, with the
exception of Romania, where 11% of boys and
5% of girls report this. Similarly, this experience
is no different for age, again with the exception
of Romania, where the difference between the
youngest and oldest age categories is 12
percentage points. Because there are almost no
differences, we don’t include the figures here.
In contrast, there are some gender differences
with regard to the experience of spending too
much money on in-app purchases or online
games (Figure 65). In the Czech Republic,
Estonia, Spain, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal,
Romania and Serbia, more boys spend too much
money on in-app purchases or online games than
girls (differences between 6 and 15 percentage
points). It can be presumed that this is related to
higher engagement in gaming among boys (see
‘Online activities’).
In the Czech Republic, Germany, and Romania,
this experience is also related to older age,
although the differences between the youngest
and oldest age categories are only small
(between 6 and 8 percentage points) (Figure 66).
17
25
14
16
22
22
18
31
11
27
11
12
16
8
12
18
15
10
22
13
15
20
9
15
17
28
15
22
8
25
13
11
8
11
8
14
17
8
22
9
11
4
13
17
19
17
5
19
9
7
7
3
16
14
3
19
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 74 |
Figure 65: Spending too much money on in-
app purchases or in online games, by gender
*FI/RU/VL/CH: Full age range not available.
QF60f In the PAST YEAR, has any of the following happened
to you on the internet? I spent too much money on in-app
purchases or in online games. Percentage of children who
answered
yes.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Figure 66: Spending too much money on in-
app purchases or in online games, by age
*FI/RU/VL/CH: Full age range not available. FI/RU/VL: Data
not weighted.
QF60f In the PAST YEAR, has any of the following happened
to you on the internet? I spent too much money on in-app
purchases or in online games. Percentage of children who
answered
yes.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
3
3
2
5
2
3
2
9
2
3
1
2
3
2
5
4
10
5
8
20
12
9
17
19
3
6
6
4
13
8
7
14
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
% Boys % Girls
9
10
6
15
6
14
10
8
10
17
1
4
8
3
4
9
4
11
14
10
8
12
4
8
5
18
7
6
10
15
4
6
2
4
9
9
6
5
8
11
5
2
4
8
5
5
7
12
2
2
3
3
6
5
3
6
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 75 |
Tracking location
The final potential risk the survey asked
about was being located by tracking a phone
or device. This activity may be beneficial, for
instance, supporting parental control over the
location of smaller children. Nevertheless,
knowing the location of a child also relates to
possible risks, especially if this is done
without the child’s consent. Therefore, we
investigated whether children experienced
being located via such technology. In most
countries, less than 5% of children report
such an experience (see
Table 8). The exceptions are Poland (5%), Romania
and Norway (8%), and Malta (9%)
There are no gender differences over 5
percentage points in any country (see Figure 67),
although this should be interpreted with
consideration of the overall lower prevalence of
this experience.
On the other hand, in some countries, there are
differences related to the age of the child (see
Figure 68). In the youngest age group, the range
of experiencing getting spyware is between 1%
(France, Croatia, Italy, Lithuania and Slovakia)
and 7% (Malta). Among 12- to 14-year-olds, the
same applies for 1% (Croatia and Lithuania) to
10% of the children (Flanders and Malta), and in
the oldest age group, between 2% (Croatia) and
18% (Flanders). In Estonia, Malta, Norway and
Romania, the difference between the youngest
and oldest age categories varies between 6 and
15 percentage points.
Figure 67: Tracking location, by gender
*FI/RU/VL/CH: Full age range not available.
QF60g In the PAST YEAR, has any of the following
happened to you on the internet? Someone found out
where I was because they tracked my phone or device.
Percentage of children who answered
yes.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
4
2
2
7
4
5
9
8
3
2
1
2
3
4
4
4
4
2
3
9
4
6
7
10
1
1
2
2
4
3
3
4
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
% Boys % Girls
| 76 |
Figure 68: Tracking location, by age
*FI/RU/VL/CH: Full age range not available. FI/RU/VL: Data
not weighted.
QF60g In the PAST YEAR, has any of the following
happened to you on the internet? Someone found out
where I was because they tracked my phone or device.
Percentage of children who answered
yes.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Points to consider
Among the data misuse risks, most common is
getting a virus or spyware. For most of these
risks, we can see the increasing trend with age.
With regard to gender differences, there is a clear
trend that in many of the countries, more boys
than girls report spending too much money on in-
app purchases or online games as well as getting
a virus or spyware. The gender difference is
probably being caused by gendered patterns in
online activities, especially gaming.
Although we have information about the
prevalence of encountering these risks, we should
consider that their nature as well as potential
resulting harm can vary among children. For
example, getting a virus or spyware might, for
one child, mean that an antivirus dealt with this
problem immediately, while for another it might
mean long-term misuse of personal information
by spyware.
Spending ‘too much money’ may also vary among
children. It would be interesting to know if this is
an estimate related to a sum that is allowed or at
least unproblematic within the family (although
still seen as high) or uncontrolled overspending
above the children’s limit.
There seem to be a slightly increasing trend of
getting tracked via a device with increasing age.
Tracking a location is usually discussed with
regard to parents controlling their smaller
children. For older children in particular, we
should therefore also think about who is using the
device for such tracking, for instance, if it is the
child’s family, friends or peers, or someone else.
8
18
3
7
3
16
4
9
17
15
2
3
2
4
9
5
8
3
8
7
4
10
2
3
2
9
4
4
7
10
3
1
1
2
5
3
2
4
3
5
3
1
2
3
3
4
3
7
1
1
1
1
3
2
4
3
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 77 |
Excessive internet
use
Parents are often afraid that their children spend too
much time online, are using the internet excessively,
or are at risk of becoming ‘internet addicts’. However,
whether someone is addicted or an excessive user
does not depend solely on the time spent online, but
rather on the impact of the internet use on the
internet user’s life
48
. In this EU Kids Online survey,
we measured children’s ‘excessive internet use’, a
term often used in non-clinical research to refer to
problematic internet use. Our research did not focus
on ‘internet addiction’, a term used more often in
clinical settings and referring to psychological
diagnosis.
Despite the difference in terminology, excessive
internet use still has a negative impact on children’s
lives and well-being. We know from previous
research that it is associated with children’s
emotional problems, lower self-efficacy, higher
sensation-seeking
49
as well as with poor sleeping
habits, risk-taking actions, tobacco use, poor
nutrition, physical inactivity
50
and other health
problems.
In the survey we asked children aged 12–16 five
questions corresponding to the criteria of excessive
internet use defined in Griffiths’ research
51
:
Salience: when the specific online activity
becomes the most important activity in the child’s
life;
Mood modification: a subjective experience
influenced by the online activity, such as using
online activities to improve the mood or feel
better;
48
Vondrackova, P., & Smahel, D. (2019). Internet
addiction in context. In M. Khosrow-Pour (Ed.),
Advanced Methodologies and Technologies in Artificial
Intelligence, Computer Simulation, and Human-
Computer Interaction (pp. 551–62). IGI Global.
49
Helsper, E.J., & Smahel, D. (2019). Excessive internet
use by young Europeans: Psychological vulnerability and
digital literacy? Information, Communication & Society.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2018.1563203
50
Durkee, T., Carli, V., Floderus, B., Wasserman, C.,
Sarchiapone, M., Apter, A., Balazs, J.A., Bobes, J.,
Brunner, R., Corcoran, P., Cosman, D., Haring, C., Hoven,
C.W., Kaess, M., Kahn, J.P., Nemes, B., Postuvan, V., Saiz,
P.A., Värnik, P., & Wasserman, D. (2016). Pathological
internet use and risk-behaviors among European
adolescents. International Journal of Environmental
Research and Public Health, 13(3), E294.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13030294
Tolerance: the need to increase the amounts of
the online activity to achieve the former effects;
Withdrawal symptoms: unpleasant feelings,
states and/or physical states after termination of
the online activity;
Conflict: disagreements between the child and
those around them (such as parents or friends)
or within the individual’s own mind associated
with the online activity;
Relapse: when children tried to reduce the
amount spent on the online activity but failed.
These research-based criteria informed the survey
item design. Individual items can be seen in Table
X.1. We asked the children the following question:
In the PAST YEAR, how often have these things
happened to you?
The four response options included
never, a few
times, at least every week
and
daily or almost daily
.
If children answered
at least every week
or
daily or
almost daily
they were considered as having
experienced the relevant criteria. The cut-off for
considering a criterion as present (weekly or daily)
was set up to reflect the severity of impact that this
behaviour has on the day-to-day lives of excessive
users. It is also important to note that according to
Griffiths’ criteria
52
, internet users are considered as
excessive users only if they experience all the criteria.
This set of questions was asked only of older
children, so we present only findings from
children aged 12–16.
Table 9 shows the percentages of children who
report experiencing different excessive internet use
criteria. As noted, experiencing any single criterion
on its own does not constitute excessive internet use.
51
Griffiths, M. (2000). Does internet and computer
“addiction” exist? Some case study evidence.
CyberPsychology & Behavior, 3(2), 211–18.
https://doi.org/10.1089/109493100316067
52
Ibid
| 78 |
Table 9: Excessive internet use: Children (12-16) who answered at least weekly or daily
I have gone
without
eating or
sleeping
because of
the internet
I have felt
bothered when I
cannot be on
the internet
I have caught
myself using the
Internet
although I’m
not really
interested
I have spent less time
than I should with
either family, friends or
doing schoolwork
because of the time I
spent on the internet
I have tried
unsuccessfully to
spend less time on
the internet
CH
4
13
14
17
14
CZ
4
8
14
9
13
DE
1
10
8
7
7
EE
4
5
15
11
14
ES
2
9
11
13
10
*FI
4
6
11
15
10
FR
5
16
8
19
7
HR
5
19
15
17
13
IT
0
5
5
9
5
LT
2
3
5
7
4
MT
6
12
13
19
20
NO
4
8
12
16
9
PL
6
17
16
12
10
PT
3
11
15
10
8
RO
11
13
11
14
15
RS
4
10
11
18
12
*RU
1
6
12
6
9
SK
1
3
5
4
5
*VL
5
11
15
21
18
Ave
4
10
11
13
10
*FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted.
QF70 In the PAST YEAR, how often have these things happened to you? Percentage of children who answered
at least every
week
or
daily
or
almost daily
.
Base: All children aged 12-16 who use the internet.
In all of the countries, the children least often
report going
at least weekly
without eating and
sleeping because of the internet (Ave = 4%). In
contrast, more children reported four other
criteria (Ave between 10 and 13%).
The percentage of children who report going
without eating and sleeping because of the
internet at least weekly ranges between 0%
(Italy) and 11% (Romania).
Between 3% (Lithuania and Slovakia) and 19%
(Croatia) of children report that they feel
bothered at least weekly when they cannot be on
the internet.
Between 4% (Slovakia) and 21% (Flanders) of
the children report they spend less time with
family, friends or doing schoolwork daily or
weekly because of time spent online.
Between 4% (Lithuania) and 20% (Malta) of
children acknowledge they try unsuccessfully to
spend less time on the internet daily or weekly.
How much children experience
the criteria of excessive internet
use
As already noted, children experience excessive
internet use only if all five criteria are present. It is
therefore meaningful to look at how many criteria
children experienced and how many children have
not experienced any of the excessive internet use
criteria. Experiencing a criterion is defined here as
reporting it as present at least weekly or daily.
The results are presented in Figure 69, which shows
how many of the criteria were experienced by
children in the relevant countries. Children in the
‘None of the criteria’ category did not experience any
| 79 |
of the criteria while children in the ‘5 criteria’ category
experienced all the criteria. The number of children
who met all five criteria is important, since we can
presume that those children are excessive users.
Considering that the number is quite low, we report
their prevalence with the use of one decimal place.
All the criteria of excessive internet use are
experienced by a minority of children – between
0% (Italy and Slovakia) and 2.1% (Croatia and
Malta).
Between 2% (Italy, Lithuania and Slovakia) and
8% (Switzerland, Croatia and Romania) of the
children experience three or four excessive
internet use criteria.
The majority of the children in all of the countries
do not experience any of the criteria of excessive
internet use. The number of children who did not
report any criteria of problematic use ranged
between 64% (Switzerland) and 92% (Slovakia).
This finding corresponds with findings from the
EU Kids Online 2010 survey, in which the
proportion of children who experience all criteria
of excessive internet use also ranged between
0% and 2%. However, it should be noted that the
comparison between these findings is
complicated because the previous survey used a
different response scale – children answered on a
5-point scale from
never/almost never
to
fairly
often
or
very often
53
. In the previous research,
the criteria were fulfilled if children answered
fairly often
or
very often
, but it was at
least every
week
and
daily or almost daily
in this survey.
53
Smahel, D., Helsper, E., Green, L., Kalmus, V., Blinka,
L., & Ólafsson, K. (2012). Excessive internet use among
European children. EU Kids Online, LSE.
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/47344/
Figure 69: Number of experienced criteria of
the excessive internet use, by country
*FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted.
QF70 Derived from QF70 In the PAST YEAR, how often have
these things happened to you? Percentage of children who
answered
at least every week
or
daily
or
almost daily
.
Base: All children aged 12-16 who use the internet.
Figure 70 shows the differences between boys and
girls who experienced at least one of the five criteria
of excessive internet use.
74
67
92
79
71
66
74
71
74
66
89
84
69
70
75
73
74
81
72
64
20
25
6
18
22
25
20
20
21
26
8
14
21
23
21
21
20
16
23
27
5
7
2
3
7
8
4
7
5
7
2
2
8
6
4
5
6
3
5
8
0.8
1.2
0.0
0.7
1.9
0.9
2.0
0.4
2.1
0.5
0.0
2.1
1.1
0.6
0.4
0.6
0.2
0.5
0.3
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% None % 1-2 types
% 3-4 types % all 5 types
| 80 |
Figure 70: Experienced at least one criterion of
the excessive internet use, by gender
*FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted.
QF70 Derived from QF70 In the PAST YEAR, how often have
these things happened to you? Percentage of children who
answered
at least every week
or
daily
or
almost daily
to at
least one criterion.
Base: All children aged 12-16 who use the internet.
The gender differences range between % (France
and Norway) and 10% (Romania). In most of the
countries, there are almost no gender differences
(i.e., the difference is equal or less than 5
percentage points).
The gendered pattern is not consistent across the
countries. In some of the countries, more boys
experience some of the criteria than girls. In
Estonia, this difference is 8 percentage points, in
Norway 7 percentage points, and in Romania, 10
percentage points. On the other hand, in France,
more girls experience some of the criteria for
excessive internet use (a difference of 7
percentage points).
Figure 71 shows the differences between children
aged 12–14 and 15–16 who experience at least one
criterion of excessive internet use.
Figure 71: Experienced at least one criterion of
the excessive internet use, by age
*FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted.
QF70 Derived from QF70 In the PAST YEAR, how often have
these things happened to you? Percentage of children who
29
35
11
26
33
40
26
32
31
40
14
24
31
29
30
28
32
18
30
40
26
33
8
19
29
30
28
27
24
32
11
19
33
36
21
27
24
21
29
37
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
32
37
7
25
37
40
31
34
34
46
15
25
42
37
29
36
24
22
37
54
24
31
12
20
26
31
24
27
23
32
10
20
26
29
21
24
30
18
24
33
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 81 |
answered
at least every week
or
daily
or
almost daily
to at
least one criterion.
Base: All children 12-16 who use the internet.
In the majority of the countries, more older
children than younger children report some
criterion of internet excessive use, differences
ranging between 6 (Estonia, Flanders) and 21
(Switzerland) percentage points.
This pattern is similar to findings from the survey
in 2010, where more older children also
experience at least one criterion of excessive
internet use
54
.
In Germany, Italy, Lithuania and Slovakia, there
are no substantial age differences. However,
these minor differences are particularly present in
countries with a low prevalence of children
experiencing some of the criteria of excessive
internet use, so these differences should be
interpreted with caution.
Points to consider
Based on our findings, we can conclude that the
majority of children in most of the participating
countries do not experience any of the criteria for
excessive internet use. Between 64% and 92% of
the children do not report any problematic
internet use at least weekly or more often. Only
a small number of children meet all five criteria:
in Italy and Slovakia none of the children meet all
the criteria and the maximum was 2.1% in
Croatia and Malta. It also seems that the number
of children who report all criteria of excessive
internet use did not change from the survey in
2010.
Concerning differences between boys and girls,
there are almost no gender differences in most of
the countries. However, in cases where boys and
girls differed, there is no consistent pattern across
the countries. In some of the countries, more
boys experience some of the criteria for excessive
internet use (such as in Estonia and Romania).
On the other hand, in France, more girls
experience these criteria. Concerning age
differences, older children experience more
criteria for excessive internet use in the majority
of the countries. This is probably because older
children use the internet on average more
intensively (see ‘Online activities’).
Our findings may be in contrast with the views of
some parents, caregivers and teachers who
would argue that the percentages presented in
54
Smahel, D., Helsper, E., Green, L., Kalmus, V., Blinka,
L., & Ólafsson, K. (2012). Excessive internet use among
European children. EU Kids Online, LSE.
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/47344/
this report are too low and that many more
children use the internet ‘too much’. However,
what is ‘too much’ and what is ‘not too much’ is
subjective. Such perceptions may vary in different
families as they are also part of the family
environment. There is no clear answer as to how
much is ‘too much’. We should stress that in this
report we focus on the impact that internet use
has on children’s lives. This impact is important
for measuring excessive internet use because it is
what determines the severity of the issue.
Whether a parent perceives that a child spends
‘too much time on the internet’ and whether this
has a serious impact on their life may be two
different things in most families.
To the best of our knowledge, parents, caregivers
and teachers often overestimate the problem of
excessive internet use or online addiction. The
phrase ‘addicted to the internet’ became a
buzzword and the common language use grew far
apart from its clinical meaning. We recommend
educating parents about the clinical meaning of
the word ‘addiction’ and its associated symptoms.
Future research could look at excessive internet
use from a longitudinal perspective, i.e., carrying
out research following the same children over a
period of time. In this way, we could investigate
factors that influence changes in excessive
internet use, in both a positive and a negative
way.
| 82 |
Sexting
The issue of sexting – sending sexually explicit
messages via electronic devices – as a risk is
complex. On the one hand, sending and receiving
sexual messages via electronic devices can be a form
of intimate peer interaction, experienced as positive
for both the sender and receiver
55
. On the other
hand, there are legitimate fears that some forms of
sexting come as a result of grooming efforts by
adults, or are the result of sexually abusive
behaviour, including intimate digital partner
violence
56
57
58
.
However, regardless of the intentionality and
experienced feelings of the involved parties, we need
to consider that sexual messages, images and videos
sent via online services always have the potential to
be distributed and made public, outside the original
sender’s and receiver’s control. Thus, there is also a
fear that transgressive behaviour among young
people themselves may seriously jeopardise their
current and future relations, such as with peers,
partners, family and employers.
It is also clear that in many countries sexual images
of under-aged, and sometimes prepubescent,
children, fall under the creation and distribution of
child sexual abuse images (so-called ‘child
pornography’). This applies even if both the sender
and receiver are of the same age (under-age). This
creates challenges for prevention, policy
development, protection and legislation. National
(and international) legislation often falls short of
understanding and differentiating between various
online sexual practices. Consequently, a gap exists in
legislation to protect against images of child sexual
abuse (i.e., ‘child pornography’) and consensual
sexual practices, including the sharing of sexual
images, between teens. Despite over a decade of
policies related to online child protection, issues of
fragmentation, unevenness in implementation and
penalties intended for adults but applied to minors
indicate that the complex nature of the internet and
55
Mascheroni, G., Vincent, J., & Jimenez, E. (2015).
“Girls are addicted to likes so they post semi-naked
selfies”: Peer mediation, normativity and the
construction of identity online. Cyberpsychology: Journal
of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 9(1), Article 5.
https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2015-1-5
56
Drouin, M., Ross, J., & Tobin, E. (2015). Sexting: A new,
digital vehicle for intimate partner aggression?
Computers in Human Behavior, 50, 197–204.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.04.001
57
Wood, M., Barter, C., Stanley, N., Aghtaie, N., &
Larkins, C. (2015). Images across Europe: The sending
and receiving of sexual images and associations with
interpersonal violence in young people's relationships.
Children and Youth Services Review, 59, 149–60.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.11.005
children’s use of it requires better informed and
holistic approaches to policy and provision
59
.
Against this background, in the survey, we included
questions on experiences with sexual messages –
both as receivers and senders – also investigating
experiences with unwanted requests for such
messages or material.
The standard definition of sexting is the sending of
sexually explicit messages or images via a mobile
phone. In our survey we made a decision to focus on
positive and negative experiences afforded by the
use of interactive technology, rather than the method
of transmission. Thus, throughout the questionnaire,
our participants were instructed to include
experiences via mobile phones, computer games and
wearables, when being asked about ‘the internet’:
People do all kinds of things on the internet.
Sometimes they may send sexual messages or
images. By this we mean talk about having sex or
images of people naked or images of people having
sex. The next few questions ask you about things like
this.
Please note how in this question we include both
written text (words) and pictures and moving images
(videos). Consequently, when referring to the
findings in this section, remember that ‘sexual
messages’ can mean different types of content.
We then asked about specific experiences with
sexting and unwanted sexual requests. These three
questions were asked only of the older children, so
we present only findings from children aged
12–16.
58
Hellevik, P., & Øverlien, C. (2016). Teenage intimate
partner violence: Factors associated with victimization
among Norwegian youths. Scandinavian Journal of Public
Health, 44(7), 702-708.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1403494816657264
59
Bulger, M., Burton, P., O'Neill, B., & Staksrud, E.
(2017). Where policy and practice collide: Comparing US,
South African and European Union approaches to
protecting children online. New Media & Society, 19(5),
750–764. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816686325
| 83 |
Receiving sexual messages
First, we focused on receiving sexual messages,
measured by the question:
In the PAST YEAR, have you EVER RECEIVED any
sexual messages? This could be words, pictures or
videos.
We aimed to explore how prevalent experiences with
sexting were, as well as age and gender differences.
As we can see from Figure 72, the number of children
who received sexual message in the past year ranged
between 8% (Italy) and 39% (Flanders) (Ave =
22%).
Figure 72: Receiving sexual messages, by
country
* RU: Question not asked. FI/VL: Data not weighted.
QF40 In the PAST YEAR, have you EVER RECEIVED any
sexual messages? This could be words, pictures or videos?
Percentage of children who answered
yes
.
Base: All children 12-16 who use the internet.
In Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Germany,
Spain, Malta, Norway, Romania, Flanders, Finland
and Serbia, between 25% and 39% of the
children receive such messages.
On the other hand, in Estonia, Croatia, Italy and
Slovakia, 10% or fewer children receive these
messages.
Figure 73: Receiving sexual messages, by
gender
* RU: Question not asked. FI/VL: Data not weighted.
QF40: In the PAST YEAR, have you EVER RECEIVED any
sexual messages? This could be words, pictures or videos?
Percentage of children who answered
yes
.
Base: All children 12-16 who use the internet.
As shown in Figure 73, in most of the countries the
gender differences were negligible, equal to or less
than 5 percentage points.
22
39
9
32
25
24
15
29
28
11
8
10
11
28
30
10
30
34
30
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
20
36
10
0
26
22
20
12
31
26
14
6
9
8
33
29
8
35
33
29
22
42
9
0
39
28
29
17
27
29
8
11
11
14
20
32
12
25
35
31
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
| 84 |
More boys than girls receive sexual messages in
France, Portugal, Flanders and Serbia, with the
difference of 13 percentage points (Serbia) and
less.
On the other hand, in Finland, Germany and
Lithuania, more girls report such an experience,
with a difference of 13, 10 and 6 percentage
points.
Receiving sexual messages was related to age (see
Figure 74), with substantial differences between the
age categories.
In all of the countries, more children in the oldest
age category report receiving sexual messages
than children aged 12–14. However, the age
differences varied across countries, from between
6 percentage points (Italy) and 32 percentage
points (Norway).
In eight countries (Switzerland, Czech Republic,
Germany, Spain, Malta, Norway, Serbia and
Flanders) between 40% and 50% of the children
in the oldest age category received sexual
messages.
In most of the countries the same is reported by
a maximum of 25% of the children aged 12–14,
with the exception of Flanders, where 36% of the
children in this age category report this.
Figure 74: Receiving sexual messages, by age
* RU: Question not asked. FI/VL: Data not weighted.
QF40: In the PAST YEAR, have you EVER RECEIVED any
sexual messages? This could be words, pictures or videos?
Percentage of children who answered
yes
.
Base: All children 12-16 who use the internet.
32
41
15
47
30
36
24
49
44
15
12
17
14
38
45
18
43
50
45
16
36
6
22
23
15
9
17
21
8
6
5
9
14
25
6
21
25
25
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 85 |
Sending sexual messages
Next, we asked about sending sexual messages:
In the PAST YEAR, how often, if ever, have you SENT
or POSTED any sexual MESSAGES (words, pictures or
videos) in the following ways?
As noted in the introduction to this section, sexting
can sometimes be a wilful exchange between peers.
It can also be the result of grooming efforts from
adults, where an adult lures children into sending
sexual messages and/or images. This can be an adult
they know face-to-face or someone they first met
online.
Thus, it is interesting to also look into to which
degree children say
they themselves
have sent
sexual messages. Figure 75 shows the
percentage of children in each country who say
they have sent sexual messages (words, pictures
and/or video) to someone in the past year.
Sending sexual messages is less prevalent than
receiving such messages, ranging from between
1% (France) and 18% (Germany) (Ave = 6%).
In Switzerland, Estonia, France, Croatia, Italy,
Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia, 5% or fewer
children report that they sent sexual message to
someone else.
Only in Germany, Malta and Serbia did more than
10% (but less than 18%) of the children
Because this experience is rather low in prevalence,
it is not surprising that there are no substantial
gender differences. Only in Malta and Serbia did
slightly more boys than girls send sexual message (a
difference of 7 and 10 percentage points,
respectively).
As for age (see Figure 76), the differences are slightly
more pronounced, although not in all of the
countries. Generally, we see that older children more
often state having sent sexual messages (sexting)
than younger children.
In the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, Finland,
Malta, Norway, Portugal, Serbia and Flanders, the
age difference in sending sexual messages
ranges between 6 and 14 percentage points.
Figure 75: Sending sexual messages, by
country
* RU: Question not asked. FI/VL: Data not weighted.
QF45y In the PAST YEAR, have you EVER SENT or POSTED
any sexual messages? This could be words, pictures or
videos about you or someone else. Percentage of children
who answered
yes
.
Base: All children 12-16 who use the internet.
6
9
3
0
10
6
6
5
7
12
3
2
2
1
7
9
2
18
9
5
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
| 86 |
Figure 76: Sending sexual messages, by age
* RU: Full age range not available. FI/VL: Data not
weighted.
QF45: In the PAST YEAR, have you EVER SENT or POSTED
any sexual messages? This could be words, pictures or
videos about you or someone else. Percentage of children
who answered
yes
.
Base: All children 12-16 who use the internet.
Unwanted requests for sexual
information
As noted above, sexting experiences can be a wanted
or unwanted activity. We know from previous
research how intentionality and expectance is a
factor when assessing whether a risk experienced
online is coped with or not seen as a problem, or if it
leads to distress and the potential for harm. We
therefore wanted to separate out those experiences
of unwanted requests for sexual information, and if
yes, of how often they had experienced this.
Consequently, we asked the children participating in
the survey:
In the PAST YEAR, have you EVER been asked by
someone on the internet for sexual information
(words, pictures or videos) about yourself (like what
your body looks like without clothes on or sexual
things you have done) when you did not want to
answer such questions?
When looking at children’s experience, we focused on
the differences in experience of prevalence between
them, comparing those who had never experienced
something like this and those who had received such
a request in the past year
at least a few times
and
more often (
at least monthly
).
The findings show (see Figure 77) that most of
the children had never experienced this (between
73% in Finland and 94% in Croatia and
Lithuania). For most of those children who had
experienced unsolicited sexual messages and
requests, this had not happened often.
In all of the countries, 7% (Finland and the Czech
Republic) or fewer children experienced
something like this
at least monthly
or more
often.
10
12
5
0
18
7
9
7
13
22
3
3
4
2
11
17
4
27
17
5
4
5
1
0
4
6
3
3
4
8
3
1
0
1
2
6
0
13
5
5
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 87 |
Figure 77: Unwanted sexual requests, by
country
* RU: Question not asked. FI/VL: Data not weighted.
QF47: In the PAST YEAR, how often, if ever, have you been
asked by someone on the internet for sexual information
(words, pictures or videos) about yourself when you did not
want to answer such questions?
Base: All children 12-16 who use the internet.
In some countries (Slovakia, Serbia, Romania,
Portugal, Poland, Malta, Lithuania, Italy, Croatia
and France) there were no substantial gender
differences (all below or equal to 5 percentage
points), although the low prevalence of this
experience should be considered.
In the rest of the countries, more girls experience
such unwanted sexual requests than boys, with
the difference ranging between 6 (Estonia) and
19 (Finland) percentage points.
The age pattern is also consistent, showing that
in most countries, more older children have such
an experience.
In Norway, Finland, Germany, the Czech Republic
and Switzerland, the difference between 12- to
14-year-olds and 15- to 16-year-olds ranges
between 23 and 25 percentage points.
Figure 78: Unwanted sexual requests, by
gender
* RU: Question not asked. FI/VL: Data not weighted.
QF47: In the PAST YEAR, how often, if ever, have you been
asked by someone on the internet for sexual information
(words, pictures or videos) about yourself when you did not
want to answer such questions? Percentage of children who
answered
a few times, at least monthly
or daily or almost
daily.
Base: All children 12-16 who use the internet.
4
5
2
4
5
3
2
5
6
1
2
2
3
7
5
1
4
7
6
13
19
9
16
11
11
5
18
16
5
7
4
7
20
16
7
21
17
21
84
76
89
80
84
87
93
77
79
94
92
94
91
73
79
92
75
77
74
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% At least monthly % A few times
% Never
19
28
13
19
17
14
9
31
20
8
9
5
10
36
26
11
29
31
31
14
20
10
20
15
13
5
14
24
3
8
7
9
17
15
5
21
16
22
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
| 88 |
Figure 79: Unwanted sexual requests, by age
* RU: Question not asked. FI/VL: Data not weighted.
QF47: In the PAST YEAR, how often, if ever, have you been
asked by someone on the internet for sexual information
(words, pictures or videos) about yourself when you did not
want to answer such questions? Percentage of children who
answered
a few times, at least monthly
or daily or almost
daily.
Base: All children 12-16 who use the internet.
Points to consider
We must acknowledge that when the internet and
mobile phones play such a substantial part in
children’s – and perhaps especially young
people’s – general day-to-day lives, then also
flirting, exploration of sexuality and the
establishment and maintenance of intimate
relationships can be mediated via technology. It
should also be noted that some of the participants
are above the sexual consent age while others are
below. It is therefore important, when
considering preventive efforts and creating good
policy and legislative practice, that we seek to
understand the different types of sexting that
occur, and to what degree this constitutes a risk
of serious harm. A nuanced approach will enable
us to identify the right measures to intervene and
aid, enabling us to separate between
transgressive behaviour between young people,
and the potential consequences of this, and
sexual abuse and solicitation towards children by
adults.
The risk of conceptualising sexting only as a
negative experience is that this may result in
providing advice that will be dismissed as it
doesn’t correspond with the common experiences
of young people. The challenge is to develop
effective preventive strategies to protect children
from the negative consequences of sexting, while
ensuring that such strategies stay situated within
young people’s common experiences.
Future research should investigate possible harm
caused by receiving sexual messages or
unwanted requests for sexual information and its
impact on children’s well-being. We need to
understand in more depth the substance of
children’s experiences. This includes, for
instance, examining which platforms are used for
sexting, who sends the message(s) and how
children cope with such an experience.
25
28
15
30
23
20
11
38
34
6
12
10
13
38
34
11
39
39
44
11
20
8
12
11
9
4
13
16
5
6
3
7
13
16
6
15
14
21
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 89 |
Seeing sexual
images
One of the concerns related to children and the
media is that of exposure to sexual images. The
worry that children may be exposed to sexual images
online, such as pornographic content, has been the
topic of many policy debates and interventions in the
field of internet safety. However, what constitutes
pornography and sexual images is partly culturally
dependent.
Moreover, the responses to exposure to sexual
images can also be very diverse. As with other risks,
seeing sexual images can, for some children and
young people, be considered a positive experience,
some don’t think much about it, and for some it can
cause distress.
In order to give good advice on which children and
when are at risk of harm in relation to sexual images,
it is important to know more about their experiences.
Therefore, we asked if the children had seen
something sexual both online and offline, and how
they reacted to this experience. To present this topic
to the children, we gave the following introduction:
In the PAST YEAR, you have seen lots of different
images – pictures, photos, videos. Sometimes, these
images might be obviously sexual, e.g., they may
show people naked or people having sex. You might
never have seen anything like this, or you may have
seen something like this on a mobile phone, in a
magazine, on the TV, on a DVD or on the internet.
The next few questions ask you about things like this.
This definition encompassed all kinds of media-
related exposure to sexual images, not only that
which happens online. In the questions that followed,
we focused on different platforms, both online and
offline, in which exposure may have happened, and
which will be introduced in the results. Moreover, we
should note that we intentionally avoided using the
term ‘pornography’, which can give special
connotations, but rather asked the children more
broadly to think of images that were obviously
sexual.
Our first question in this section related to the
frequency of exposure. Figure 80 shows the number
of children who reported seeing some kind of sexual
image in the past year. Across the countries, between
21% (France) and 50% (Serbia) of the children say
they had had such an experience.
In Croatia, the Czech Republic, Spain, Malta and
Serbia, 40% and more of the children had seen
some kind of sexual image.
On the other hand, in Estonia, France and
Lithuania, less than one in four children report
this experience.
Figure 80: Seeing sexual images (on- or
offline), by country
* DE/FI/VL: Full age range not available. RU: Question not
asked.
QF30: In the PAST YEAR, have you EVER SEEN any sexual
images? Percentage of children who answered
yes
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Exposure to sexual images varies by age and
gender. In all of the countries, more boys than
girls reported having seen sexual images (see
Figure 81). The gender difference ranged
between 2% (Malta and Lithuania) and 14%
(Portugal).
In seven countries (Spain, France, Italy, Poland,
Portugal, Romania and Serbia), the gender
difference is between 10 and 13 percentage
points.
33
27
50
36
32
29
39
40
24
27
28
21
41
22
43
41
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
*DE
CZ
CH
| 90 |
Figure 81: Seeing sexual images (on- or
offline), by gender
* DE/FI/VL: Full age range not available. RU: Question not
asked.
QF30: In the PAST YEAR, have you EVER SEEN any sexual
images? Percentage of children who answered
yes
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Across all the countries there is also a clear age
pattern in seeing sexual images (see Figure 82).
The older the children are, the more likely they
are to see some sexual images. The difference
between the youngest and oldest age categories
ranges between 21 and 70 percentage points,
which shows considerable cross-national
variation in relation to age.
In some countries (Poland, Croatia, Estonia,
Portugal, Norway, and Serbia) more than five
times as many experience sexual images among
15- to 16-year-olds than 9- to 11-year-olds.
On the other hand, the difference in Lithuania and
France is substantially lower, ranging between 25
and 21 percentage points.
Figure 82: Seeing sexual images (on- or
offline), by age
* DE/FI/VL: Full age range not available. RU: Question not
asked. FI/VL: Data not weighted.
QF30: In the PAST YEAR, have you EVER SEEN any sexual
images? Percentage of children who answered
yes
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
29
26
44
30
26
23
36
39
25
21
23
15
34
20
40
39
37
29
55
40
40
34
42
41
23
33
32
28
47
25
46
44
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
*DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
61
70
49
84
62
58
62
77
70
38
48
55
31
59
76
45
60
79
75
39
62
27
61
44
34
30
42
40
27
24
28
24
40
44
26
43
47
52
15
12
15
14
12
11
10
28
12
12
10
10
25
9
21
18
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
*DE
CZ
CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 91 |
Seeing sexual images on different
platforms
Most children see sexual images on devices
connected to the internet, such as on a mobile
phone, computer, tablet or any other online
device (Ave = 14%). Slightly fewer say they have
seen sexual images on television or in films (Ave
= 11%) and only small number say that they
have seen sexual images in a magazine or a book
(Ave = 3%).
Table 10: Seeing sexual images at least
monthly on different platforms, by country.
In a
magazine
or book
On
television,
film
Via a
mobile
phone,
computer,
tablet or
any other
online
device
CH
2
10
17
CZ
5
17
26
*DE
-
-
-
EE
1
7
9
ES
3
10
16
*FI
-
-
-
FR
2
3
4
HR
6
12
12
IT
3
9
8
LT
2
7
7
MT
4
11
16
NO
1
12
17
PL
3
7
10
PT
4
12
16
RO
4
11
13
RS
7
26
28
*RU
-
-
-
SK
3
7
7
*VL
-
-
-
Ave
3
11
14
* DE/FI/VL: Full age range not available. RU: Question not
asked.
QF31 In the PAST YEAR, how often have you seen images
of this kind in any of the following ways? Percentage of
children who answered
at least every month, at least every
week,
or
daily or almost daily
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
There is considerable variability between
countries in the number of children who say that
they have seen sexual images on the internet,
ranging between 4% in France and 28% in
Serbia.
In most countries, boys are more likely than girls
to say that they have seen sexual images across
platforms.
There is also a consistent age pattern across all
of the countries, with more children in the oldest
age category seeing sexual images online than in
the youngest age category.
How children felt after seeing
sexual images
As noted in the introduction for this section, being
exposed to sexual images can be perceived both as
a positive and a negative experience, depending on
the context and the individual child. How sexual
images are perceived can also be influenced by
intentionality – the response to exposure due to
seeking out sexual images could differ from
unexpected exposure. The emotional response is also
connected to the developmental stage and needs of
the children, reflected by age. In line with our intent
to research children’s own experiences from a non-
normative starting point, we also asked children the
following question:
Thinking of the LAST TIME you have seen images of
this kind, how did you feel about it?
The children could report one of these options
: I was
happy, I was not happy or upset, I was a little upset,
I was fairly upset
and
I was very upse
t (see Figure
83). Please note that these images could be both
online and offline.
Figure 83 shows that in most of the countries,
most of the children who saw some sexual image
were neither upset nor happy (Ave = 44%),
ranging between 27% (Switzerland) and 72%
(Lithuania).
In contrast, between 10% (Lithuania) and 40%
(Switzerland) of the children were fairly or very
upset (Ave = 22%), while feeling happy after
seeing sexual images was reported by a similar
number of children across the countries, ranging
between 3% in Estonia and 39% in Spain.
In Romania, France and Switzerland, being fairly
or very upset after seeing sexual images was
reported by more than fourth of the children who
saw them. On the other hand, in Finland, Italy,
Lithuania, and Portugal, being fairly or very upset
was reported by less than 15% of the children.
| 92 |
Figure 83: How children reacted to seeing
sexual images, by country.
* DE/FI/VL: Full age range not available. HR/RU: Question
not asked.
QF32: Thinking of the LAST TIME you have seen images of
this kind, how did you feel about it?
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet and who had
seen sexual images.
Figure 84 shows sharp differences between boys
and girls in their emotional response to seeing
sexual images. In all of the countries, girls report
being
a little
or
fairly
or
very upset
more often
than boys. The difference between boys and girls
varies between 15 percentage points (Lithuania)
and 38 percentage points (Switzerland) (Ave = 26
percentage points in difference).
Figure 85 shows that in most countries there are
consistent age differences in emotional responses
to seeing sexual images. More children in the
youngest age category report being upset from
seeing sexual images than children in the oldest
age category. This difference ranges between 8
percentage points (Lithuania) and 47 percentage
points (Malta) (Ave = 25 percentage points in
difference).
Figure 84: Children who are a little, fairly or
very upset by sexual images, by gender.
* DE/FI/VL: Full age range not available. HR/RU: Question
not asked. FI/VL: Data not weighted.
QF32: Thinking of the LAST TIME you have seen images of
this kind, how did you feel about it? Percentage of children
who answered
fairly
upset
or
very upset
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet and who had
seen sexual images.
However, in Slovakia and Italy, there are no
substantial age differences in emotional response
(the differences between all age groups are under
5 percentage points).
22
20
16
32
13
19
15
30
10
12
39
16
23
18
40
16
26
11
16
6
16
19
11
10
18
17
11
20
19
19
44
48
46
35
50
43
51
31
72
60
32
34
55
35
27
19
6
27
17
31
22
16
28
8
11
12
39
3
27
14
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
*HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
*DE
CZ
CH
% Fairly or very upset % A little upset
% A Neither nor % Happy
51
57
45
67
32
49
51
54
27
40
71
36
55
52
79
26
34
13
36
10
28
16
29
12
22
49
21
33
25
41
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
*HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
*DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
| 93 |
Figure 85: Children who are a little, fairly or
very upset by sexual images, by age.
* DE/FI/VL: Full age range not available. HR/RU: Question
not asked. FI/VL: Data not weighted.
QF32: Thinking of the LAST TIME you have seen images of
this kind, how did you feel about it? Percentage of children
who answered
fairly
upset
or
very upset
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet and who had
seen sexual images.
Points to consider
Some children and young people intentionally
seek out sexual content. Some may seek them
due to curiosity, others may try to find answers
for questions they have about puberty, their own
body and sexual identity. Thus, as with other
perceived risks, seeing sexual images might also
represent an opportunity and help for some. How
do we ensure a balanced approach to sexual
images online – and in other media – that steers
away from media panic, seeing the nuances in the
rationales behind the various intentional
experiences with sexual content online?
On the other hand, some sexual content, which
children are exposed to, may also have an
educational purpose. It could be relevant
information about sexuality or about having a
safe sexual experience. How can we ensure that
sexual educational content is age-appropriate
and relevant, and who should take responsibility
for this?
Despite the need to consider the differences
related to intent, we also need to focus on the
consequences of exposure to sexual materials. As
the results showed, a substantial number of
children were positive about their experience.
This is also in line with the presumption that
children use the internet to fill their
developmental needs. Nevertheless, we need to
acknowledge that both wanted and unwanted
exposure can lead to both positive and negative
feelings – and sometimes also to an impact that
is much more differentiated and nuanced, and
that our survey could not sufficiently capture.
However, prior research has also shown that
some children, especially younger children and
girls more often than boys, do not seek out sexual
images but are unwillingly exposed to them, and
some find this to be problematic. It is important
to ensure that children who have accidentally
accessed or been sent sexual content by others
have a way of coping with this, so that it does not
lead to any form of harm.
25
24
46
0
17
41
13
30
27
18
19
30
0
52
20
14
39
18
22
48
32
34
44
0
32
48
23
36
41
42
16
27
0
55
17
28
39
32
37
56
49
48
48
68
35
46
44
65
27
30
69
44
59
0
68
86
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
*HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
*DE
CZ
CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 94 |
Meeting new people
Meeting new people on the internet represents one
of the pronounced online risks in the media. Media
reports, often using expressive language (e.g.,
‘online predators’ or ‘online paedophiles’), focus on
the possibility of physical or sexual abuse stemming
from meeting unknown people online, people who
manipulate children using lies and pretending to be
their peers
60
,
61
. Even though these cases are
extremely rare
62
,
63
), they raise substantial concerns.
As a result, the general public tend to perceive such
interactions as harmful, and forget that meeting new
people is a natural part of everyone’s life, and that,
besides the aforementioned potential risks, it can
also bring potential benefits: finding new friends with
similar interests, receiving emotional support,
learning new information or practising a foreign
language in a conversation
64
65
. All these possible
benefits are especially important for adolescents, for
whom widening their social circle is part of their
developmental needs, which may be a driving force
for children to engage in these activities.
The EU Kids Online survey focused on two aspects of
interactions with unknown people: (1) whether the
children had contact online with someone previously
not met face-to-face, and (2) whether they also met
such a person face-to-face, in the physical world.
We asked the children two questions:
Have you EVER had contact on the internet with
someone you have not met face-to-face before?
In the PAST YEAR, have you EVER met anyone face-
to-face you first got to know on the internet?
As shown in Figure 86, being in contact with
someone unknown on the internet is a common
experience among children (Ave = 37%).
However, the prevalence of such contacts varies
across countries, between 23% (Italy) and 57%
(Norway).
Meeting new people from the internet face-to-
face is a less common experience (Ave = 16%),
ranging between 5% of children who met
60
boyd, D., & Marwick, A. (2009). The conundrum of
visibility: Youth safety and the Internet. Journal of
Children and Media, 3(4), 410–14.
61
Mascheroni, G., Jorge, A., & Farrugia, L. (2014). Media
representations and children’s discourses on online risks:
Findings from qualitative research in nine European
countries. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial
Research on Cyberspace, 8(2), Article 2.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5817/CP2014-2-2
62
Marwick, A.E. (2008). To catch a predator? The
MySpace moral panic. First Monday, 13(6), 1174–96.
63
Wolak, J., Finkelhor, D., & Mitchell, K. (2004). Internet-
initiated sex crimes against minors: Implications for
someone new from the internet face-to-face in
France to 25% in Serbia.
Since having contact with someone unknown
online is a precondition to a face-to-face meeting,
the pattern across countries is similar: those
countries where fewer children had contact with
someone unknown online are the same countries
where the frequency of meeting them face-to-
face is low.
In the EU Kids Online 2010 survey, the countries
also varied substantially. Between 18% and 54%
of the children reported having contact with
someone unknown on the internet, and 3% to
25% met them face-to-face. However, despite
this seeming similarity, there were also several
differences in comparable countries. In Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain, the
experience of having online contacts has
increased, with an increase ranging from between
6 percentage points (Romania) to 30 percentage
points (Portugal). In the Czech Republic and Italy,
both activities stayed at approximately the same
level. The increase in face-to-face meetings is
also apparent in the same countries, although to
a smaller extent (between 6 percentage points in
Italy and Norway and 15 percentage points in
Portugal). On the other hand, in Estonia, France
and Lithuania, both activities decreased, with
online contacts decreasing by 7 percentage points
in France up to a 20 percentage point decrease in
Lithuania. A decrease in face-to-face meetings
ranged between 7 percentage points in France
and 11 percentage points Lithuania.
As noted, having online contact with someone
unknown is a prerequisite of a face-to-face
meeting. Hence, we also looked at the proportion
of children who went to face-to-face meetings out
of those who had had online contact. In the Czech
Republic, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal,
Romania and Spain, the number of such children
who had online contact and chose to also meet
face-to-face increased (the difference ranged
between an 6 percentage point increase in
Norway and a 29 percentage point increase in
Italy). Another trend was apparent in Estonia,
France and Lithuania, where children less often
prevention based on findings from a national study.
Journal of Adolescent Health, 35(5), 424-e11-424e20.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2004.05.006
64
Dedkova, L. (2015). Stranger is not always danger: The
myth and reality of meetings with online strangers. In P.
Lorentz, D. Smahel, M. Metykova & M.F. Wright (Eds.),
Living in the digital age: Self-presentation, networking,
playing, and participating in politics (pp. 78–94). Muni
Press.
65
Holmes, J. (2009). Myths and missed opportunities:
Young people’s not so risky use of online
communication. Information, Communication & Society,
12(8), 1174–96.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13691180902769873
| 95 |
chose to meet their online contacts face-to-face
(the differences were 15, 17 and 7 percentage
points, respectively).
Figure 86: Child has communicated online
with, or gone to an offline meeting with,
someone not met face-to-face before
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. DE: Question not
asked.
QF11: Have you EVER had contact on the internet with
someone you have not met face-to-face before? (in
Germany, this question was not asked). And QF12: In the
PAST YEAR, have you EVER met anyone face-to-face that
you first got to know on the internet? Percentage of children
who answered
yes
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
In most of the countries, the differences between
boys and girls were only small. Regarding online
contacts (see Figure 86), boys and girls differed
in eight countries (Croatia, Czech Republic,
Estonia, France, Norway, Portugal, Romania and
Spain), however, the differences are only small,
between 6 (Czech Republic) and 10 percentage
points (Romania). In all these countries, more
boys than girls report having online contact with
unknown people online. In the other countries,
there are no substantial gender differences.
Figure 87: Having a contact with previously
unknown person on the internet, by gender.
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. DE: Question not
asked.
QF11: Have you EVER had contact on the internet with
someone you have not met face-to-face before? Percentage
of children who answered
yes
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Regarding face-to-face meetings, there were only
gender differences only in Romania, where 28%
of boys met someone face-to-face, whereas only
19% of girls did so. The gender differences in all
the other countries are not substantial (equal to
or below 5 percentage points). For parsimony, we
don’t display the figure.
37
34
41
38
46
40
57
34
32
23
28
25
39
42
44
33
16
17
25
23
20
19
21
16
12
10
10
5
22
13
9
20
14
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
*DE
CZ
CH
% Met face-to-face
% Been in contact
34
33
39
33
42
38
52
33
30
24
25
21
35
38
41
32
40
35
43
43
50
42
61
35
34
23
31
29
42
46
47
35
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
*DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
| 96 |
Figure 88: Having a contact with previously
unknown person on the internet, by age.
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. DE: Question not
asked. FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted.
QF11: Have you EVER had contact on the internet with
someone you have not met face-to-face before? Percentage
of children who answered
yes
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Regarding face-to-face meetings (see Figure 89),
the youngest age category differs from the oldest
age category by 5 percentage points (France) to
48 percentage points (Serbia). In most countries,
this difference is over 20 percentage points.
In all of the countries, there is a clear age pattern
in both activities: more older children had
contacts with unknown people online than
younger ones, and more of the older children also
met them face-to-face.
Regarding online contacts with new people (see
Figure 88), the differences between the youngest
and oldest age categories ranges between 20
percentage points (France) and 61 percentage
points (Serbia) for online contacts. These
differences are over 40 percentage points in most
countries.
In all countries older children
interact with unknown people
more than younger children.
63
63
47
73
73
63
68
66
80
59
58
40
53
35
87
66
64
75
61
47
54
40
56
46
45
54
50
68
42
35
27
30
27
69
48
57
54
45
16
18
12
15
20
18
30
14
13
5
11
15
20
19
19
12
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
*DE
CZ
CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 97 |
Figure 89: Meeting previously unknown
person from the internet face to face, by age
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. DE: Question not
asked. FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted.
QF12 In the PAST YEAR, have you EVER met anyone face-
to-face that you first got to know on the internet?
Percentage of children who answered
yes
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
How children felt after a face-to-
face meeting
As noted, meeting face-to-face with a previously
unknown person from the internet raises many
concerns. We therefore asked the children how they
felt after the last time they met someone from the
internet face-to-face. They could choose from these
options:
I was happy, I was not happy or upset, I
was a little upset, I was fairly upset
and
I was very
upset
(see Figure 90).
More than half of the children who met someone
face-to-face report that they were happy after the
meeting (Ave = 70%). In Malta, Norway,
Portugal, Romania and Spain, more than 80% of
the children who went to such a meeting reported
feeling happy after the meeting.
In all of the countries except Poland, the second
largest group of children consists of those
reporting feeling neither happy nor upset. The
percentages range between 12% in the Czech
Republic and 36% in Lithuania (Ave = 22%).
Being at least a little upset was least common
(Ave = 9%). In seven countries (Spain, Estonia,
Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Romania),
5% or fewer children report any feelings of upset,
and between 6% and 10% in another four
(Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Serbia). However,
Poland, 23% of the children were upset after a
face-to-face meeting.
Nevertheless, when the children were upset, they
mostly rated the negative feeling as being a little
upset. Being fairly or very upset was reported by
5% or fewer children who met their online
contact face-to-face in all of the countries except
France (11%). Moreover, the most severe
feelings – being very upset – were reported by
only a handful of the children. In about half of the
countries there was no such child; in the other
countries this applies to less than 1.5% of the
children who went to a face-to face meeting with
an unknown person from the internet.
33
34
27
40
54
42
34
34
39
31
26
21
24
8
43
44
26
23
42
30
19
29
19
23
25
28
23
24
23
20
15
10
8
5
25
27
17
6
21
18
5
6
6
8
5
7
7
5
2
1
2
3
8
3
2
7
5
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
*DE
CZ
CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 98 |
Figure 90: How children felt after meeting
offline contacts in person (only those who had
done so)
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. HR: Question not
asked.
QF13: Thinking of the LAST TIME you met anyone face-to-
face that you first got to know on the internet, how did you
feel about it?
Base: All children 9-16 who have met online contacts face-
to-face.
The percentages out of those who went to such a
meeting could be misleading when making an overall
estimation of the number of children who are upset
by the experience. In Table 11, we thus also present
the percentages of upset children out of the whole
sample. In this table (and following gender
comparisons), we merged the answers
I was a little
upset
,
I was fairly upset
and
I was very upset
together into one category. It should be stressed that
this category mostly consists of children who felt
a
little upset
.
With regard to the whole sample, the percentage
of children reporting upsetting face-to-face
meetings with unknown people from the internet
is very low in all of the countries. In most of the
countries, 1% or fewer children experienced any
upsetting feelings after such a meeting. In the
Czech Republic, Serbia and Slovakia, 2% of the
children report feeling upset, and in Poland, it is
5% of children (however, it should be repeated
that most of these children were only a little
upset).
In most of the countries, the same proportion of
boys and girls report feeling upset after a face-
to-face meeting. In Switzerland, the Czech
Republic and Italy, slightly more girls experienced
feeling upset after a face-to-face meeting with
their online contact than boys. The differences
range between 6 percentage points (in the Czech
Republic and Italy) and 11 percentage points (in
Switzerland). In France, more boys reported
feeling at least a bit upset, and the difference was
12 percentage points. The figure is not included
here.
Regarding feeling happy after a meeting, more
girls than boys report feeling happy in France,
Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal
and Romania. The gender differences range
between 7 percentage points (Romania) and 23
percentage points (France). On the other hand,
more boys than girls report feeling happy in
Switzerland (a difference of 6 percentage points).
The figure is not included here.
Considering the low number of children who
experienced any upsetting feelings and the
overall pattern of small differences across the
countries, these differences should be interpreted
with caution. It is plausible that gender does not
play a substantial role in how children evaluate
the face-to-face meetings with people from the
internet, and that there are other more important
factors that affect their evaluations.
Due to low prevalence, we also did not examine
age patterns across the countries.
3
4
1
1
1
5
1
4
2
1
11
1
2
4
1
0
6
10
7
1
2
23
0
1
0
9
9
1
1
8
10
7
22
34
33
13
14
17
18
15
36
28
21
17
26
28
12
18
70
52
59
86
84
55
82
80
62
62
59
81
71
60
77
76
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
*HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Fairly or very upset % A little upset
% A Neither nor % Happy
| 99 |
Table 11: Children who are upset after face to
face meetings with online contacts, by
country
% At least a bit upset
% Have
had a F2F
meeting
Those who
had F2F
meetings
Whole
sample
CH
14
7
0.9
CZ
20
11
2.2
*DE
9
12
1.0
EE
13
3
0.4
ES
22
2
0.4
*FI
-
-
-
FR
5
21
1.0
HR
10
-
-
IT
10
10
1.0
LT
12
2
0.3
MT
16
5
0.8
NO
21
1
0.1
PL
19
28
5.3
PT
20
3
0.5
RO
23
1
0.3
RS
25
9
2.2
*RU
-
-
-
SK
17
14
2.3
*VL
-
-
-
Ave
16
8
1.3
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. DE: Question not
asked.
QF12: In the PAST YEAR, have you EVER met anyone face-
to-face that you first got to know on the internet? And
QF13: Thinking of the LAST TIME you met anyone face-to-
face that you first got to know on the internet, how did you
feel about it? Percentage of children who answered
a little
upset, fairly upset,
or
very upset
.
Base: All children 9-16 who u who have met online contacts
face-to-face.
Points to consider
Meeting with unknown people online is usually
perceived as a risk, but it may also bring benefits,
and we should not forget that.
The majority of the children were happy after
meeting with new people from the internet.
Nevertheless, we still believe that meeting
someone unknown from the internet should be
treated with caution, and that children should be
encouraged to employ preventive measures to
assure their safety before and during such a
meeting (e.g., telling someone about the
meeting, meeting in a public place).
There are apparent gender differences in most of
the countries for having an online contact with
unknown people (more boys than girls reporting
online contacts), but almost no gender
differences in face-to-face meetings. This may
suggest either that boys are more ‘picky’ in
choosing with whom they want to meet face-to-
face, or that their online activities provide more
opportunities to have online contacts with
unknown people than girls’ activities. Given the
large difference between boys and girls in playing
online games (see ‘Online activities’), we believe
the second explanation is more plausible. Online
games, which are more popular among boys,
provide many means to connect with unknown
people, which is sometimes even a necessity for
playing.
On the other hand, there is very clear age trend
across all of the countries in both activities.
Similar to almost every other online activity, more
older children than younger ones have online
contacts and meet unknown people from the
internet. This points to overall increases in using
the internet for many day-to-day activities with
maturation, and also stresses the developmental
conditionality of interactions with new people: as
children enter adolescence, the need to
communicate with new people increases.
| 100 |
Preference of online
communication
In this section, we examine children’s preferences of
online communication – specifically, whether children
find online communication easier and tend to self-
disclose more online than offline. The preference of
online communication can have both positive and
negative aspects. It might be positive if children
prefer the internet in certain situations for identity
exploration or as the onset for communication about
sensitive topics, such as sexuality
66
. In such cases,
the online environment can serve as a safe
environment for the exploration that is a natural part
of the child’s development. On the other hand,
especially those with higher emotional problems,
such as loneliness, social anxiety or low self-esteem,
prefer online communication because the online
environment gives them an opportunity for better
self-control of the self-presentation
67
. Although such
preference can be beneficial since it enriches social
life, it may be problematic if it becomes central for
communication while offline communication and
offline relationships deteriorate, or if it leads to
excessive internet use. Therefore, the preference of
online communication might be both positive
(‘healthy’) and negative (‘unhealthy’) and may
become an opportunity or a risk. In the positive form,
the online environment provides the means to enrich
and supplement offline communication. In the
negative form, the online environment substitutes for
offline communication.
In the survey, we provided the following three
statements related to the preference of online
communication:
I find it easier to be myself online than when I am
with people face-to-face.
I talk about different things online than I do when
speaking to people face-to-face.
I talk about personal things online which I do not talk
about with people face-to-face.
Children replied if this applied to them never,
sometimes, often or always.
It should be noted that these questions do not assess
if the preference of online communication is positive
or negative. However, they provide an insight into
the children’s overall preferences related to online
communication.
66
Subrahmanyam, K., & Smahel, D. (2011). Digital youth:
The role of media in development. Springer Science &
Business Media.
Table 12 shows how many children say this applies
to them
often
or
always
in relation to these items.
Table 12: Preference of online communication
(applies
often
or
always
), by country
I find it
easier to be
myself
online
I talk about
different
things
online than
f2f
I talk about
personal
things
online
which I do
not talk
about f2f
*CH
-
-
-
CZ
27
19
5
*DE
24
18
11
EE
30
23
8
ES
24
18
6
*FI
-
-
-
FR
37
21
17
HR
33
24
16
IT
24
17
9
LT
38
27
19
MT
30
29
10
NO
25
22
8
PL
19
19
9
PT
28
15
9
*RO
38
16
n.a.
RS
27
18
6
*RU
-
-
-
SK
27
18
12
*VL
-
-
-
Ave
29
21
11
* CH/FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. RO: question
on talking about personal things not asked.
QD2d,e,f: How often does the following apply to you? I find
it easier to be myself online than when I am with people
face-to-face. I talk about different things online than I do
when speaking to people face-to-face. I talk about personal
things online which I do not talk about with people face-to-
face. have met online contacts face-to-face. Percentage of
children who answered
often
or
always
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Between 19% (Poland) and 38% (Romania) of
the children often or always find it easier to be
themselves online than offline (Ave = 29%).
Between 16% (Romania) and 29% (Malta) of the
children report that they often or always talk
67
Caplan, S.E. (2010). Theory and measurement of
generalized problematic internet use: A two-step
approach. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(5), 1089–
97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2010.03.012
| 101 |
about different things online than they do when
speaking to people face-to-face.
The least number of children (Ave = 11%) often
or always talk about personal things online that
they do not talk about with people face-to-face.
In the following sections we provide the results of the
two first mentioned items in more depth, focusing on
the frequency of the experience and gender and age
differences. We selected these two because a higher
number of children agreed with them.
I find it easier to be myself online
Between 49% (Spain) and 75% (Lithuania) of the
children report that they at least sometimes or
more often find it easier to be themselves online
than when they are with people face-to-face (Ave
= 61%).
Between 7% (Italy and Norway) and 19%
(Romania) of children report that it happens to
them always.
Between 26% (Croatia, Romania and Serbia) and
38% (Lithuania and Norway) of the children say
it happens to them sometimes.
As Figure 92 shows, in about half of the countries
(Serbia, Romania, Portugal, Poland, Italy,
Croatia, Spain, Estonia), boys report more often
than girls that they find it often or always easier
to be themselves online than with people face-to-
face. The gender differences range between 7
(Spain) percentage points and 13 percentage
points (Portugal). In the other countries, there
are no substantial gender differences (i.e., above
5 percentage points).
The largest differences are in Croatia (12%) and
Portugal (13%).
In about half of the countries, boys more often
than girls report finding it easier to be themselves
online.
Figure 91: I find it easier to be myself online
than when I am with people face-to-face, by
country
* CH/FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QD2d: How often does the following apply to you? I find it
easier to be myself online than when I am with people face-
to-face.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
12
9
16
19
16
9
7
12
13
7
13
11
13
13
9
12
17
18
13
21
14
10
19
18
24
15
20
26
12
17
15
15
32
35
26
26
33
32
38
33
38
28
26
34
24
37
35
36
39
38
45
35
38
50
35
37
24
50
41
29
52
33
42
37
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
% Always % Often % Sometimes % Never
| 102 |
Figure 92: I find it easier to be myself online
than when I am with people face-to-face, by
gender (at least sometimes or more often)
* CH/FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QD2d: How often does the following apply to you? I find it
easier to be myself online than when I am with people face-
to-face. Percentage of children who answered
sometimes
,
often
or
always
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Concerning age differences (see Figure 93), in
most of the countries, fewer children aged 9–11
than older children report that they found it easier
to be themselves online than when they were
with people face-to-face with difference ranging
between 8 (the Czech republic) and 31 (France)
percentage points.
In most of the countries, there are none or only
small differences between 12- to 14-year-olds
and 15- to 16-year-olds (equal or below 5
percentage points).
Figure 93: I find it easier to be myself online
than when I am with people face-to-face, by
age (at least sometimes or more often)
* CH/FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. Data not
weighted.
QD2d: How often does the following apply to you? I find it
easier to be myself online than when I am with people face-
to-face. Percentage of children who answered
sometimes
,
often
or
always
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
58
63
50
61
56
46
62
63
75
45
53
69
45
61
57
60
64
60
61
70
69
55
67
63
77
55
65
72
52
73
60
65
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
% Boys % Girls
68
68
71
60
43
74
66
60
69
76
81
55
72
85
79
61
74
73
66
50
66
72
63
63
60
67
65
57
70
71
80
54
61
74
73
53
75
62
65
58
51
50
60
57
56
40
55
46
69
40
48
54
39
55
43
58
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 103 |
I talk about different things online
than I do when speaking to
people face-to-face
In about half of the countries (the Czech
Republic, Germany, Estonia, France, Lithuania,
Malta, Norway, Poland and Portugal), the
majority of the children talk about different things
online than offline
at least sometimes
,
often
or
always
. This is reported by between 38% (Spain)
and 64% (Lithuania) of the children (Ave = 52%).
Figure 94: I talk about different things online
than I do when speaking to people face-to-
face, by country
* CH/FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QD2e: How often does the following apply to you? I talk
about different things online than I do when speaking to
people face-to-face. Percentage of children who answered
sometimes
,
often
or
always
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
It seems that this experience is happening to
children most often sometimes. Between 21%
(Spain) and 40% (Norway) of the children report
that they talk about different things online than
offline sometimes.
However, only between 3% (Italy) and 11%
(Malta) of the children report it happens to them
always.
Figure 95: I talk about different things online
than I do when speaking to people face-to-
face, by gender
* CH/FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QD2e: How often does the following apply to you? I talk
about different things online than I do when speaking to
people face-to-face. Percentage of children who answered
sometimes
,
often
or
always
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
As Figure 95 shows, in the majority of the
countries, there are none or only minor gender
differences.
6
4
6
5
6
7
5
11
7
3
9
5
7
7
5
5
14
13
13
11
10
12
17
18
18
13
14
16
10
16
12
14
32
33
28
25
35
33
40
31
39
28
25
30
21
33
36
37
49
50
53
59
50
48
38
40
36
56
52
49
62
45
47
44
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
% Always % Often % Sometimes % Never
50
51
41
40
48
50
60
60
65
40
46
51
34
49
53
56
53
49
52
42
53
53
63
60
64
50
50
51
43
61
52
56
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
% Boys % Girls
| 104 |
In some of the countries (Serbia, Italy, Spain,
Estonia), boys more often than girls acknowledge
that they often or always talk about different
things online than when speaking to people face-
to-face. The differences are between 9 (Spain)
and 12 (Estonia) percentage points. Only in
Switzerland girls reported doing this more often,
with 6 percentile points of difference.
In the majority all of the of the countries, more older
than younger children report that they talk about
different things online than offline at least often or
always. The differences between the youngest and
oldest age categories range between 9 (Serbia) to 39
(France) percentage points.
In eight of the countries, the
majority of the children report
talking about different things
online than offline at least
sometimes or more often.
Figure 96: I talk about different things online
than I do when speaking to people face-to-
face, by age
* CH/FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. Data not
weighted.
QD2e: How often does the following apply to you? I talk
about different things online than I do when speaking to
people face-to-face. Percentage of children who answered
sometimes
,
often
or
always
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
63
67
62
61
50
52
60
60
73
72
76
52
67
70
77
54
64
73
62
47
58
75
54
61
51
44
56
61
67
68
66
48
51
55
66
47
64
58
61
51
38
33
41
30
37
39
48
45
56
33
32
31
24
42
33
47
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 105 |
Points to consider
The majority of the children in most of the
countries agreed that they at least sometimes or
more often find it easier to be themselves online
than when they are with people face-to-face.
However, as stated at the beginning of this
section, this can have both positive and negative
consequences for children’s well-being. Thus, we
should better understand why children prefer
online communication and for which children this
might have negative outcomes. Qualitative
research in particular could provide more insight
into the situations and context in which children
feel easier being themselves online.
In about half of the countries, more boys report
that they find it easier to be themselves online
than when they are with people face-to-face.
However, a question remains as to what is behind
these systematic gender differences. Is it because
boys more often visit different online
environments, such as online games? Or are
there other reasons? Future research could reveal
why there are gender differences in the
preference of online communication.
We should also better understand the impact of
the preference of online communication on
children’s well-being. We know that the
preference of online communication might be
unhealthy in its extreme form and could
sometimes be sometimes related to excessive
internet use
68
. In such situations, children might
prefer online contact to offline contact, which
would negatively impact their lives. However, the
preference of online communication can have
also positive outcomes, such as in identity
exploration.
The tools of online communication vary greatly,
such as when children can use only the text form
in messengers, but also voice and video calls via
tools such as Skype. However, in this research,
we did not specify the online communication
channels children use. Future research could
identify which kinds of online communication
children prefer. Is it the text form, video calls or
perhaps anonymous communication? Such
results could bring a deeper understanding to the
reasons behind the preference of online
communication.
68
Smahel, D., Brown, B.B., & Blinka, L. (2012).
Associations between online friendship and
internet addiction among adolescents and
emerging adults. Developmental Psychology, 48(2),
381–88. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027025
| 106 |
Social context
The previous sections (‘Access’, ‘Practices and skills’,
‘Opportunities and risks’) focused on individual-level
factors influencing children’s online presence. In this
section, we consider another level of factors – that of
children’s social environment or context. This
acknowledges that children are embedded within
various social contexts, and that these contexts and
other people in these contexts largely influence
children too.
Growing up, the most influential people in children’s
lives are their nuclear family, their parents. Children’s
friends play a significant role too, more so after
children enter school and even more so when
entering adolescence. During school, teachers also
become influential actors. Considering that with the
spread of the internet we no longer meet others just
in a ‘physical world’ but we also meet them online,
we acknowledge the role of digital ecologies, i.e.,
online social contexts. These may be represented by
an online community regularly visiting a dedicated
online platform, players in a multiplayer online game,
or more generally, by people anywhere on the
internet who children can encounter.
Figure 97: Theoretical model - this section
focuses on Social level (in red).
The influence of social contexts on children’s online
experiences is diverse. This EU Kids Online survey
focused on selected aspects of this possible
influence, namely on online mediation (i.e., efforts to
69
Livingstone, S., Ólafsson, K., Helsper, E.J., Lupiáñez-
Villanueva, F., Veltri, G.A., & Folkvord, F. (2017).
Maximizing opportunities and minimizing risks for
children online: The role of digital skills in emerging
strategies of parental mediation. Journal of
Communication, 67(1), 82–105.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12277
influence children’s internet use, aiming at
maximising opportunities and minimising risks and
harm), on sharenting (i.e., parental practices to share
personal information about their child online) and
children’s perceptions of people on the internet and
the online environment as a safe space (see Figure
97).
Mediation
Children's internet use is codetermined by how other
actors in their lives approach the technology, what
rules regarding use they are expected to follow, and
what advice or dis/encouragement they receive from
the people around them. The most notable actors
who strive to influence children’s internet use in order
to maximise the benefits and minimise the risks and
harm are parents. Their efforts to affect children’s
internet use are labelled ‘parental mediation’, and
two broad types of parental mediation can be
distinguished
69
. Enabling mediation encompasses
parental practices that aim at enabling children’s
positive use of the internet. Restrictive mediation
then aims to limit children’s use of the internet. This
EU Kids Online 2020 report focuses on three subtypes
of parental mediation, with the first two (active
mediation and technical monitoring) both falling
under enabling mediation, while selected restrictive
strategies fall under restrictive mediation.
Active mediation: talking with children about their
internet use, sharing online activities, and explaining
what is good and bad on the internet. Active
mediation is considered the most desirable type of
mediation because it is connected to higher digital
skills, it enhances children’s understanding of the
internet and makes them better equipped to interpret
and deal with media content and potentially
bothering situations online
70
. We asked the children
the following questions related to parents’ active
mediation.
When you use the internet, how often does your
parent/carer do any of these things?
Encourages me to explore and learn things on the
internet.
70
Shin, W., & Lwin, M. O. (2017). How does “talking
about the internet with others” affect teenagers’
experience of online risks? The role of active mediation
by parents, peers, and school teachers. New Media &
Society, 19(7), 1109–26.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444815626612
| 107 |
Suggests ways to use the internet safely.
Talks to me about what I do on the internet.
Helps me when something bothers me on the
internet.
Technical monitoring: using technological means
to monitor children’s online use (e.g., parental
control software). Monitoring is a strategy that
provides parents with knowledge of their children’s
whereabouts – what they do on the internet or with
technologies. It can be done in many ways – parents
can simply ask, or they can see what their children
do online by checking their screen etc. This survey
focused on the possibilities of technical monitoring,
i.e., on using technological advances such as
specialised software or services to gain information
on what their children do online. The children
answered these questions related to technical
monitoring:
Does your parent/carer make use of any of the
following…?
Parental controls or other means of blocking or
filtering some types of content.
Parental controls or other means of keeping track of
the internet content I look at or apps I use.
Technology to track where I am (such as GPS).
Restrictions: in general this covers setting rules
regarding internet use, which limits either access and
time when children can use the internet, or activities
that children can do online. Restrictive mediation is
generally most effective in lowering experienced risks
online, but it also has a downside – children who are
more restricted in their use tend to also have lower
digital skills, making them less equipped to deal with
problematic situations
71
. This survey specifically
focused on restricting selected specific online
activities. The children answered the following
questions:
Does your parent/carer allow you to do the following
things on the internet and if so, do you need their
permission to do them?
Use a web or phone camera (e.g., for Skype or video
chat).
Download music or films.
Use a social networking site (e.g., Facebook,
Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter).
Parents are nevertheless not only actors who can be
engaged in the mediation of children’s internet use;
there are other actors who play an important role in
71
Livingstone, S., Ólafsson, K., Helsper, E.J., Lupiáñez-
Villanueva, F., Veltri, G.A., & Folkvord, F. (2017).
Maximizing opportunities and minimizing risks for
children’s lives and who may be particularly engaged
in active mediation: peers and teachers. This EU Kids
Online survey also focused on how peers and
teachers encourage safe internet use or help children
with bothering experiences. We asked the children
these questions about teachers’ active mediation:
Have any teachers at your school done these things?
Suggested ways to use the internet safely.
Encouraged me to explore and learn things on the
internet.
Helped me in the past when something has bothered
me on the internet.
The following questions were asked about friends’
active mediation:
Have any of your friends done these things?
Suggested ways to use the internet safely.
Encouraged me to explore and learn things on the
internet.
Helped me in the past when something has bothered
me on the internet.
Active mediation
A basic part of active mediation of internet use is
talking with the children about what they do when
they use the internet. Figure 98 shows the
distribution by country of how often parents talk to
their children about their internet use.
In 12 of the countries (Germany, Estonia, France,
Croatia, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Portugal,
Romania, Serbia, Slovakia), more than half of the
children say that their parents talk to them at
least sometimes about what they do online. In
three countries (Germany, France and Croatia),
more than 80% of the children talk with their
parents.
On the other hand, in four countries (Switzerland,
the Czech Republic, Spain and Poland), over half
of the children say their parents never or hardly
ever talk to them about what they do on the
internet.
children online: The role of digital skills in emerging
strategies of parental mediation. Journal of
Communication, 67(1), 82–105.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12277
| 108 |
Figure 98: How often parents talk to their
children about their internet use, by country
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QI4 When you use the internet, how often does your parent
or carer do any of these things? Talks to me about what I
do on the internet.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Figure 99 shows gender differences among those
children who report they talk with their parents at
least sometimes.
In five countries (Germany, France, Italy,
Lithuania and Slovakia), boys and girls do not
differ substantially in this regard (a difference
equal to or below 5 percentage points). In all the
other countries, however, more girls than boys
report talking with their parents about their online
activities
at least sometimes
. Generally, these
gender differences were small – between 6
percentage points in Portugal and 16 percentage
points in Switzerland.
Age patterns are less consistent. In about half of
the countries there is an understandable decrease
in the number of children who talk with their
parents about their online activities at least
sometimes, with difference between oldest and
youngest age category ranging between 9 (Malta)
and 25 (Estonia) percentage points.. The only
exception is Switzerland, where more 15- to 16-
year-olds children talk to their parents than the
youngest, with difference of 6 percentage points.
As the child grow older, it may be harder for the
parent to discuss their online activities. In
Portugal and Norway, however, 12- to 14-year-
olds talk to their parents more than children in
the other two age categories (the difference
between 6 and 12 percentage points.
Figure 99: Children whose parents talk to them
about what they do online at least sometimes,
by gender
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QI4 When you use the internet, how often does your parent
or carer do any of these things? Talks to me about what I
do on the internet. Percentage of children who answered
sometimes, often
or
very often
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
33
33
40
33
32
22
24
37
33
46
51
50
27
24
38
16
23
30
37
26
21
28
24
35
22
40
27
32
33
21
35
43
28
22
37
31
33
46
40
54
42
42
27
26
17
17
52
41
19
56
55
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Often or very often
% Sometimes
% Never or hardly ever
67
71
73
59
63
51
64
63
75
75
87
82
53
64
83
50
53
59
67
61
49
57
41
52
54
71
73
80
84
43
55
79
40
37
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
| 109 |
Figure 100: Children whose parents talk to
them about what they do online at least
sometimes, by age
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. Data not weighted.
QI4 When you use the internet, how often does your parent
or carer do any of these things? Talks to me about what I
do on the internet. Percentage of children who answered
sometimes, often
or
very often
.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Parents, peers and teachers
This survey asked children how often parents, peers
(friends) and teachers do the following:
Suggest ways to use the internet safely.
Help me when something bothers me on the internet.
Encourage me to explore and learn things on the
internet.
When it comes to advice on how to use the
internet safely (Table 13), more than half of the
children receive such advice from parents at least
sometimes: between 52% of Swiss children and
up to 86% of Croatian children. Teachers are
quite often sources of such advice too, reported
by between 51% (Spain) and 78% (Croatia) of
the children. On the other hand, fewer children
identified friends as a source of suggestions for
safe internet use. In 12 of the countries, less than
half of the children agree with the statement (the
range across all countries is between 32% in
Switzerland and 65% in Slovakia).
In most of the countries, parents are less likely to
encourage their children to learn and explore new
things on the internet (Ave = 58%) than
suggesting ways to use the internet safely (Ave =
69%). Still, more than half of the children in 12
of the countries report being encouraged by
parents (between 28% in Switzerland and 75%
in France). In half of the countries (Switzerland,
Spain, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal and
Slovakia) more teachers than parents encourage
children to learn new things online (a difference
of between 6 and 16 percentage points in
Slovakia and Switzerland, respectively). Only in
France did children report that parents encourage
them more than teachers, and in the other
countries, there is no difference in this regard. In
7 of the countries, parents also encourage their
children more than their friends. The difference
ranges between 8 percentage points (Malta) and
29 percentage points (Estonia), with most of
these differences being equal or over 15
percentage points. In other countries, the
differences are negligible (equal or below 5
percentage points).
Finally, parents are also the main source of help
when something bothering happens online to the
children (Ave = 64%). In all of the countries,
more than half of the children say their parents
help them at least sometimes (between 52% in
the Czech Republic and Poland and 82% in
France). Friends are reported as sources of help
by fewer children – in 13 of the countries, less
than half of the children get help from friends at
least sometimes (a range of between 35% in
Poland and 64% in Slovakia). Finally, in most of
the countries, teachers are the least reported
source of help. The percentage of children saying
teachers help them when something bothers
54
37
58
53
58
53
54
36
53
52
65
68
77
82
47
44
43
70
35
45
61
34
67
60
67
56
66
43
63
60
71
68
84
83
54
52
58
80
42
49
67
82
72
52
58
54
57
61
80
87
88
84
45
68
90
53
39
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 110 |
them on the internet ranges between 19% in
Spain and 57% in Croatia and Slovakia, but in
most of the countries, this percentage is below
40%. It should be noted, however, that answers
to this particular question are most likely affected
by how many children were bothered by
something on the internet in the countries (see
‘Overall negative online experiences’ and the
sections about online risks and opportunities),
thus the figures should be interpreted with this in
mind.
Table 13: Active mediation by parents, peers, and teachers. Children who reported that parents,
friends, and teachers at least sometimes …
Suggest ways to use the internet
safely
Encourage me to explore and
learn things on the internet
Help me when something bothers
me on the internet
Parents
Friends
Teachers
Parents
Friends
Teachers
Parents
Friends
Teachers
CH
52
32
58
28
37
44
57
40
20
CZ
56
34
58
46
31
43
52
41
25
DE
75
54
60
62
63
50
67
39
31
EE
65
35
67
61
32
58
63
43
36
ES
65
38
51
47
45
57
55
39
19
*FI
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
FR
79
40
58
75
53
61
82
41
34
HR
86
51
78
72
54
74
73
58
57
IT
82
47
62
54
51
53
67
33
27
LT
76
51
76
67
51
74
65
49
50
MT
70
47
74
63
55
72
70
54
47
*NO
64
-
60
60
-
64
70
-
25
PL
57
32
68
43
38
53
52
35
39
PT
71
48
64
51
49
61
63
50
31
RO
67
49
55
57
52
56
62
47
37
RS
73
41
58
67
48
66
70
44
29
*RU
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
SK
68
65
74
70
70
76
63
64
57
*VL
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
AVE
69
44
64
58
49
60
64
45
35
* FI/RU/VL: Full age-range not available NO: Full age-range not available for questions about friends
QI4 When you use the internet, how often does your parent/carer do any of these things? QJ2 Have any teachers at your school
done these things? QK2 Have any of your friends done these things? Percentage of children who answered
sometimes, often
or
very often.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Ways to use the internet safely
Teaching children how to use the internet safely is an
important part of digital education that children
should receive. Table 13 shows that quite a lot of
children are at least sometimes reminded of safe
internet use by parents, teachers and/or their
friends. Considering that when parents do not
provide such advice it may still be perfectly sufficient
to receive it from a teacher (or vice versa), we also
examined how many children in general reported
being given advice as to how to use the internet
safely irrespective of the source of the advice. That
is, we distinguished between children who receive
such advice at least sometimes from any of the three
actors (parents, friends or teachers) from those who
never or hardly ever receive such advice (see Figure
101).
The proportion of children who receive safety
advice
at least sometimes
varies from 72% in
Switzerland to 95% in Croatia, with over three in
four children in most of the countries reporting
this to be the case.
| 111 |
Looking at the issue from the other perspective,
in most of the countries, the proportion of
children not receiving safety advice from parents,
teachers or friends is between 11% (Germany)
and 28% (Switzerland) of the children.
Figure 101: Parents, friends or teachers
suggested ways of using the internet safely, by
country
* FI/RU/VL: Full age-range not available NO: Full age-range
not available for questions about friends
Derived from QI4 When you use the internet, how often
does your parent/carer do any of these things? QJ2 Have
any teachers at your school done these things? QK2 Have
any of your friends done these things? Suggests ways to
use the internet safely. Percentage of children who
answered
sometimes, often
or
very often
to at least one of
the three questions.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
As Figure 102 shows, gender differences are
small but noticeable in several countries. In
Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Spain,
Malta, Poland, Romania and Serbia, more girls
report being advised on safe internet use than
boys – the differences range between 6
percentage points (Estonia, Romania) and 13
percentage points (Poland). In the other
countries, there are no substantial differences.
Figure 102: Parents, friends or teachers
suggested ways of using the internet safely at
least sometimes, by gender
* FI/RU/VL: Full age-range not available NO: Full age-range
not available for questions about friends
Derived from: QI4 When you use the internet, how often
does your parent/carer do any of these things? QJ2 Have
any teachers at your school done these things? QK2 Have
any of your friends done these things?: Suggests ways to
use the internet safely. Percentage of children who
answered
sometimes, often
or
very often
to at least one of
the three questions.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
85
87
84
84
86
79
87
91
92
95
88
79
85
89
78
72
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
*NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
87
87
87
87
88
85
81
91
92
94
95
89
82
88
90
82
76
82
87
80
81
84
72
78
82
90
89
95
88
76
82
89
75
68
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
*NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
| 112 |
Figure 103: Parents, friends or teachers
suggested ways of using the internet safely at
least sometimes, by age
* FI/RU/VL: Full age-range not available NO: Full age-range
not available for questions about friends.
Derived from: QI4 When you use the internet, how often
does your parent/carer do any of these things? QJ2 Have
any teachers at your school done these things? QK2 Have
any of your friends done these things?: Suggests ways to
use the internet safely. Percentage of children who
answered
sometimes, often
or
very often
to at least one of
the three questions.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Generally, age differences are rather small
(Figure 103). In Poland there is a clear age
pattern, with the youngest age category (9–11)
reporting being advised about online safety more
(85%) than 12- to 14-year-olds (78%) and 15- to
16-year-olds (68%). In Spain and Portugal, the
12- to 14-year-olds report being advised more
than both other age categories. There are a few
other small differences in the other countries
(particularly in Switzerland, Romania or Serbia),
but generally age makes no substantial difference
with regard to this issue.
Technical means to restrict or
monitor children’s internet use
Given the spread of software that is now available to
monitor or filter children’s online activities, the survey
focused on three technological options parents can
use: whether (to a child’s knowledge) parents
use
parental control software that would block or filter
the content on the internet
; whether parents
keep
track of applications or online activities children
engage in;
and whether they
use any technology to
track the location of the child, such as GPS
(see Table
14).
In most of the countries, a minority of children
report parental use of any of these technological
controls (Ave = 22% and less). In only two of the
countries, the proportion of children who report
their parents use any technological control
exceeds a third. In France, 39% of children say
their parents use software to block or filter some
type of content, and 37% say parents keep track
of their applications or activities. In Malta, both
types of parental controls are applied to 33% of
the children. Combined with 26% of children
reporting their parents track their locations,
Maltese parents seem to be those most using
technological options to monitor their children’s
online presence.
On the other hand, in Lithuania, the proportion of
children reporting their parents use the three
technological means is rather low.
There are no clear patterns in children’s
knowledge of different technological means. In
France, Croatia and Italy, tracking children’s
locations is substantially lower compared to using
the other two parental controls, whereas in many
of the other countries, the three options asked
about are used similarly.
In most of the countries, there are no substantial
differences related to gender. In Croatia, girls
report blocking or filtering software slightly more
often than boys, and the opposite applies for
Polish and Slovakian children, where both these
technological means are reported more by boys
than girls. In Malta, Poland, Portugal and
Romania, boys report having their location
79
70
82
64
77
81
80
68
75
86
86
89
95
88
67
77
81
86
74
80
83
66
89
66
87
80
91
78
86
85
92
93
97
88
75
83
85
90
77
76
86
88
85
88
84
85
88
94
93
92
89
74
87
90
82
64
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
*NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 113 |
tracked more often than girls. All these
differences are, however, only small (between 6
and 10 percentage points). Considering that there
are almost no differences, for parsimony, we
don’t display the figure.
Table 14: Usage of technical means to
monitor or restrict children’s internet usage
Parental
controls or
means of
blocking or
filtering
some types
of content
Parental
controls or
means of
keeping
track of
content or
apps
Technology
to track
where I am
(such as
GPS)
CH
30
20
12
CZ
14
17
9
DE
20
12
12
EE
12
13
16
ES
16
13
15
*FI
-
-
-
FR
39
37
17
HR
22
24
5
IT
26
22
9
LT
12
11
8
MT
33
33
26
NO
19
20
19
PL
19
14
19
PT
24
23
16
RO
20
24
21
RS
23
26
24
*RU
-
-
-
SK
20
21
10
*VL
-
-
-
Ave
22
21
15
* FI/RU/VL: Full age-range not available.
QI7 Does your parent/carer make use of any of the
following…? Percentage of children who answered
sometimes, often
or
very often.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Age patterns are clearer – in the majority of the
countries, older children report fewer parental
controls than younger children. Only in Romania
are there no substantial age differences. Because
the age patterns are similar for all three options,
we only present Figure 104 as an example –
children reporting on whether their parents use
parental controls or other means of keeping track
of what they do online.
However, it is important to keep in mind that
these answers reflect what children know. There
may be a number of children whose parents use
some of these technical advances without their
children’s knowledge.
Figure 104: Children who say their parents
use technology to track where they are (such
as GPS), by age.
* FI/RU/VL: Full age-range not available. Data not
weighted.
QI7 Does your parent or carer make use of any of the
following…? Technology to track where I am (such as GPS)
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
11
13
7
15
16
23
10
13
12
16
4
8
5
15
12
10
11
7
4
13
14
18
8
16
22
19
13
15
20
23
9
11
6
18
19
16
11
10
6
12
19
15
33
21
25
26
24
37
10
6
5
19
16
24
18
15
13
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 114 |
Content-specific restrictive
mediation
In the survey, we asked the children whether their
parents allow them to
use a web or phone camera
(e.g., for Skype or video chat), download music or
films, and use a social networking site (e.g.,
Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter).
Overall, only a small proportion of children are not
allowed to use web or phone cameras, download
content or use a social networking sites (Table
15).
In 10 of the countries, 15% or fewer children said
they are not allowed to use a web or phone
camera (ranging between 6% and 45%). Quite
similarly, in 9 of the countries, 15% or fewer are
not allowed to use social networking sites
(ranging between 9% and 34%). Downloading
music or films is restricted to a lesser extent – in
half of the countries fewer than 10% of the
children are not allowed this (ranging between
4% and 37%).
In France and Germany we can find the highest
proportion of children who are not allowed to do
any of the activities: 45% of French children are
not allowed to use a web or phone camera, 37%
are not allowed to download music or films, and
34% are not allowed to use social networking
sites. In Germany, the respective percentages are
25%, 24% and 31%.
Because social networking sites are a particularly
interesting activity, which is much discussed, we also
examined the restrictions of social networking sites
with regard to gender (Figure 105) and age
differences (Figure 106).
Being a boy or girl does not seem to motivate
restrictions on social networking sites to any
great extent. There are no substantial differences
in 14 of the countries. The only two exceptions
are Norway and Slovakia, where slightly more
boys report not being allowed to use social
networking sites than girls (the differences are 8
and 7 percentage points, respectively).
Table 15: Content-specific restrictive
mediation: Is a child allowed to….
Use a web
or phone
camera
Download
music or
films
Use a social
networking
site
CH
13
11
17
CZ
10
4
10
DE
25
24
31
EE
12
10
13
ES
15
7
17
*FI
-
-
-
FR
45
37
34
HR
22
19
21
IT
24
15
21
LT
8
9
11
MT
10
9
17
NO
6
5
12
PL
13
9
10
PT
11
6
9
RO
20
11
15
RS
10
6
10
*RU
-
-
-
SK
18
14
14
*VL
-
-
-
Ave
16
12
16
* FI/RU/VL: Full age-range not available.
QI6 Does your parent/carer allow you to do the following
things on the internet and if so, do you need their
permission to do them? Percentage of children who
answered
sometimes, often
or
very often.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
| 115 |
Figure 105: Social networking sites not
allowed, by gender
* FI/RU/VL: Full age-range not available.
QI6 Does your parent/carer allow you to do the following
things on the internet and if so, do you need their
permission to do them? Percentage of children who
answered
sometimes, often
or
very often.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Age patterns, however, are very clear and
correspond to the age limits that many social
networking sites have (Figure 106). The youngest
age category (9- to 11-year-olds) is not allowed
to use social networking sites the most (Ave =
34%). Between 21% (Portugal and Poland) and
63% (France) of the youngest children are not
allowed to use social networking sites. On the
other hand, in the oldest age group (15- to 16-
year-olds), between 1% (Poland, Norway,
Lithuania, Finland, Czech Republic) and 7%
(France) of the children reported the same.
Figure 106: Social networking sites not
allowed, by age
* FI/RU/VL: Full age-range not available. Data not
weighted.
QI6 Does your parent/carer allow you to do the following
things on the internet and if so, do you need their
permission to do them? Percentage of children who
answered
sometimes, often
or
very often.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
15
10
8
16
7
9
8
15
12
21
24
32
17
11
32
10
17
17
17
12
14
11
12
16
20
10
21
19
36
18
15
31
10
17
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
3
3
3
3
2
6
2
1
1
6
1
4
3
7
1
3
2
3
1
4
8
11
6
5
3
9
4
5
2
6
5
13
13
26
6
10
4
21
5
7
34
33
25
26
21
21
34
35
23
46
41
63
33
27
62
23
38
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 116 |
Reverse mediation
Children nowadays are growing up with information
and communication technologies present from a very
early age. They quickly learn to use them and spend
a lot of time online. Their parents, on the other hand,
grew up in a different media landscape, and often
feel less skilled in their internet use than their
children. Consequently, it may not always be just a
parent who teaches a child about internet use, but
also the other way around – a child can teach the
parent, and explain and show them how digital
technologies work. This can be labelled ‘reverse
mediation’. To examine this, the survey asked the
children the following question:
Have you EVER done any of these things?
Helped my parent/carer to do something they found
difficult on the internet.
As Figure 107 shows, in many of the countries,
the proportion of children who help their parents
often or very often, sometimes and never or
hardly ever is relatively even (Ave = 40%, 29%
and 31%, respectively).
While in Germany 62% of children never or hardly
ever help their parents, in Serbia, 69% help their
parents often or very often.
In most of the countries there are no substantial
gender differences (Figure 108). In Switzerland,
Italy, Norway, Portugal and Romania, more girls
help their parents than boys (a difference of
between 6 percentage points in Italy and 14
percentage points in Portugal).
As shown in Figure 108, In most of the countries,
older children help their parents more often than
younger ones. The difference between these two
age group is between 9 (Slovakia) and 34
(Switzerland) percentage points. Only in France
and Malta are no substantial age differences.
Figure 107: Helping parents when they found
something difficult online, by country
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
c_QI5 Have you EVER done any of these things? Helped my
parent/carer to do something they found difficult on the
internet.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
40
25
69
48
56
39
35
54
34
35
30
27
52
35
12
47
38
29
32
19
22
23
33
36
27
36
33
35
33
25
36
26
32
22
31
43
13
30
21
29
29
20
30
32
35
39
23
29
62
21
40
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Often or very often
% Sometimes
% Never or hardly ever
| 117 |
Figure 108: Helping parents when they found
something difficult online often or very often,
by gender
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
c_QI5 Have you EVER done any of these things? Helped my
parent/carer to do something they found difficult on the
internet. Percentage of children who answered
often
or
very
often.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Figure 109: Helping parents when they found
something difficult online often or very often,
by age
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. Data not weighted.
c_QI5 Have you EVER done any of these things? Helped my
parent/carer to do something they found difficult on the
internet. Percentage of children who answered
often
or
very
often.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
42
28
70
53
63
39
39
56
35
38
32
28
55
37
13
50
44
37
23
67
44
49
38
31
52
33
32
29
26
50
34
12
45
32
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
49
49
29
55
76
55
62
48
47
52
45
44
45
29
44
67
46
22
57
54
43
38
27
48
72
49
62
37
40
55
34
36
36
27
46
61
39
13
52
46
31
20
59
44
44
35
21
54
27
26
16
26
36
26
5
37
20
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 118 |
Ignoring parental advice about
internet use
Parental mediation, especially active mediation, is an
important tool to guide children’s internet use.
Despite the fact that the mediation is usually
motivated by an effort to help children gain the most
benefits from the internet while avoiding problems,
children themselves may sometimes evaluate
parental advice as poor, useless or even senseless.
The survey thus asked the children the following
question:
Do you ever ignore what your parent/carer tells you
about how and when you can use the internet?
Only a small proportion of children say they often
ignore their parents’ advice on internet use
(between 4% in Croatia and Malta and 14% in
Lithuania) (Figure 110).
The majority of the children in most of the
countries do not ignore what their parents say
about when and how to use the internet. In most
of the countries this applies to more than half of
the children, ranging between 33% (Lithuania)
and 71% (Malta).
In Germany, France and Lithuania, however, the
largest proportion of children (between 51 and
54%) say that they sometimes do ignore their
parents.
There are no substantial gender differences in
ignoring parents in about half of the countries
(Figure 111). In Germany, Estonia, France, Italy,
Lithuania, Malta and Poland, more boys than girls
report ignoring their parents, although the
differences are small (between 8 and 12
percentage points).
In most of the countries, the age pattern is
apparent – older children ignore their parents
more than younger children. The difference
between the oldest and youngest category
ranges between 9 (Norway) and 32 (Serbia)
percentage points.
In Estonia, the differences are smaller (equal or
below 5 percentage points). In Malta, the highest
proportion of children who ignore their parents is
among the 12- to 14-year-olds.
Comparing the findings with EU Kids Online 2010,
in Estonia, Italy and Romania, there are no
differences – approximately the same percentage
of children said they ignore their parents in the
2010 survey as they did in this survey. In the
Czech Republic and Estonia, there has been a
small decrease in the percentage of children
ignoring parental advice (of 6 and 10 percentage
points, respectively). In the remaining countries,
more children report ignoring their parents in this
survey than in 2010. In Poland and Portugal, the
difference is small (7 and 6 percentage points,
respectively), in France, the increase is 11
percentage points, and in Norway, Lithuania and
Germany, the increase is more than 20
percentage points (Norway: 23 percentage
points, Lithuania: percentage points, and
Germany: 33 percentage points).
Figure 110: Whether child ignores what
parents say about when on how to use the
internet, by country
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QI13 Do you ever ignore what your parent/carer tells you
about how and when you can use the internet?
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
9
11
12
13
5
8
8
4
14
8
4
8
8
7
9
9
7
37
42
36
37
30
25
41
25
54
43
28
51
24
36
51
39
37
54
47
52
50
65
67
51
71
33
49
68
42
68
57
40
52
56
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Yes, often % Sometimes % No
| 119 |
Figure 111: Whether child ignores what
parents say about when on how to use the
internet at least sometimes, by gender
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QI13 Do you ever ignore what your parent/carer tells you
about how and when you can use the internet? Percentage
of children who answered
yes, sometimes
or
yes, often.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Figure 112: Whether child ignores what
parents say about when on how to use the
internet at least sometimes, by age
* FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. Data not weighted.
QI13 Do you ever ignore what your parent/carer tells you
about how and when you can use the internet? Percentage
of children who answered
yes, sometimes
or
yes, often.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet
43
51
46
48
33
29
50
24
63
46
30
54
30
39
55
48
43
49
55
50
51
37
37
47
36
72
56
34
63
35
47
64
48
45
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
54
55
63
57
64
48
45
38
52
28
78
64
40
66
51
50
39
71
59
52
49
51
51
48
52
53
40
38
53
36
70
52
33
61
41
34
44
63
53
48
38
47
32
47
22
27
43
23
58
39
26
50
23
44
48
37
35
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 120 |
Points to consider
In most of the countries, the majority of the
children acknowledge that their parents engage
in active mediation (talk to them, encourage
them, help them and suggest ways to use the
internet safely). When compared to friends and
teachers who may also serve as a source of
mediation of internet use, parents are generally
more active. Active mediation is a strategy that is
associated with higher digital skills and higher
opportunities. It also supports children’s own
decision-making and evaluation of what is good
and what is bad on the internet
72
. Thus, we
strongly support parental efforts in this way.
However, among active mediation strategies,
parents focus on encouraging the safe use of the
internet rather than encouraging them to explore
the opportunities that the internet offers.
Despite the overall high active mediation, there is
also a substantial proportion of children who
report their parents hardly ever or never talking
to them about what they do on the internet. Even
though there is an understandable age effect –
older children reporting talking with their parents
less than younger children – in several of the
countries, the proportion of children hardly ever
or never talking with their parents is around half,
even in the youngest age category (9- to 11-year-
olds). We believe that parents should be
encouraged to talk to their children more, as
talking with them about what they do is a basic
mechanism of gaining knowledge about their
child.
Restrictions are reported to a much lesser extent
than active mediation – only a minority of the
children report their parents not allowing them to
use a phone or web cam, download music or films
or visit social networking sites. Yet this should not
be interpreted as a general lack of restrictions or
rules in the family. Restrictive mediation is often
very popular, especially for parents of younger
children, and this is also apparent in social
network restriction by age in this survey.
However, restrictions are also connected to lower
online risks, but also lower digital skills
73
. Thus,
we advise parents not to use restrictions alone,
but always accompany this strategy with active
mediation – explaining to children why some rules
or restrictions are being put into place, and
lessening the restrictions as the child grows older
and gains more experience.
72
Shin, W., & Lwin, M. O. (2017). How does “talking
about the internet with others” affect teenagers’
experience of online risks? The role of active mediation
by parents, peers, and school teachers. New Media &
Society, 19(7), 1109–1126.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444815626612
A considerable number of children quite
frequently (i.e., often or very often) help their
parents when parents find something difficult
online. This reverse mediation points to the
continuing generation gap, where parents may
lag behind their children in digital skills. This can
also be seen positively as it points to the fact that
parents are not afraid to let their children help
them.
73
Livingstone, S., Ólafsson, K., Helsper, E.J., Lupiáñez-
Villanueva, F., Veltri, G.A., & Folkvord, F. (2017).
Maximizing opportunities and minimizing risks for
children online: The role of digital skills in emerging
strategies of parental mediation. Journal of
Communication, 67(1), 82–105.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12277
| 121 |
Sharenting
Sharenting – a combination of the words
sharing
and
parenting
– is used to describe parents sharing
personal information about their child online. This
could be words, pictures and/or videos, and the
sharing can be consensual and informed (parents
asking their children if it is okay to post something or
informing them about the posting) or it can be
without the child knowing what has been shared. For
babies and toddlers, the latter will always be the
case, but older children have the capacity to
understand and make their own judgement.
Sharing content related to children may be seen as a
‘natural’ part of parental behaviour, especially if
parents are proud of their children and their
accomplishments, or more generally in their family
life and common experiences (such as holidays), and
it is understandable that they want to share this with
other people. Considering the proliferation of the use
of social networking sites for publishing content
which is important and which we want to share with
others, it is not surprising that many parents use
them for sharenting purposes.
However, there can be a tension between the
behaviour of parents and the children’s perspective.
On the one hand, parents and carers are considered
the legal guardians of children, and are also generally
the ones making decisions on their personal
information and its distribution. However, sharing
personal information about children is not
unproblematic. Several concerns have been raised,
including concerns over children’s right to privacy,
which can be breached when information once
shared online remains in the public domain ‘forever’,
becoming a form of ‘digital tattoos’. Thus, on the
other hand, we need to remember that children have,
as do all others, the right to their own personal
information and stories. For the past few years we
have seen how there can be a strong conflict
between the best interests of the child and the
protection of their privacy and the wishes and actions
of their parents or legal guardians. In some more
extreme cases, courts have had to intervene.
Sharenting is also problematic because of other
issues besides children’s rights. There is a concern
that seemingly innocent images in one context (such
as a child playing on a beach) may be used and
abused in other contexts. Moreover, some online
services might acquire copyright over the posted
images as part of their terms of service. This means
that the information can be used for other purposes,
such as commercial ones.
Thus, as with most of the online services and
activities research by the EU Kids Online network,
sharenting also includes both potential positive and
negative dimensions.
In this EU Kids Online 2020 report we aim to grasp
the prevalence of this phenomenon, and importantly,
how children perceive sharenting by their parents. Is
it a problem? Although we asked about the past year,
we also need to consider that sharenting is
something that could have happened when the
children were younger (such as when they were
toddlers). This could also be captured by some items,
specifically about removing things online and
receiving hurtful comments due to something
published online by a parent.
First, we tried to map out the nature of the potential
experience of the child, asking if they had ever
experienced any of the following situations in the
past year. The children were asked in the following
way:
My parent/carer published information (such as text,
pictures or movies) about me on the internet without
asking first if I was okay with it.
I asked my parent/carer to remove things they had
published on the internet.
I was upset because of information my parents
published online.
I received negative or hurtful comments from
someone because of something my parent/carer
published online.
These questions were asked only of older children,
so we present only findings from children aged
12–16.
In Table 14, we present the overall experiences with
sharenting and its impact. The percentages
correspond to the number of children who say that
they experienced this at least a few times or more
often during the past year.
Between 8% (Lithuania and Slovakia) and 36%
(Norway) of the children report that their parents
or carers published information online without
asking them first if it was okay for them to do so
(Ave = 20%).
The number of children who say that they ask
parents or carers to remove things they have
published online varies between 3% (Lithuania)
and 29% (Romania) (Ave = 14%).
Some children also report being upset because of
information their parents publish online, ranging
from between 3% (Lithuania and Slovakia) and
21% (Romania) of the children (Ave = 9%).
When it comes to children reporting receiving
negative and/or hurtful comments because of
something their parents published online, this
was the least common experience (Ave = 7%),
ranging between 1% (Lithuania) and 22%
(Romania).
| 122 |
Table 16: Sharenting, by country.
My parent published
information online
without asking first if I
was OK with it
I asked my parent or
carer to remove things
they had published on
My the internet
I was upset because of
information my
parents published
online
I received negative or
hurtful comments
because of something
my parent published
online
CH
15
10
5
3
CZ
24
12
7
6
DE
9
6
7
4
EE
17
8
4
2
ES
24
16
11
4
*FI
-
-
-
-
FR
13
9
9
7
HR
11
10
9
7
IT
16
12
6
5
LT
8
3
3
1
MT
28
24
15
13
NO
36
19
9
6
PL
11
10
13
9
PT
29
14
13
6
RO
28
29
21
22
RS
21
21
6
6
*RU
-
-
-
-
SK
8
4
3
3
*VL
-
-
-
-
Ave
13
13
9
6
* FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted
QF80a In the PAST YEAR, how often has this happened to you? Percentage of children who answered
a few times, at least every
month, at least every week,
or
daily or almost daily.
Base: All children 12-16 who use the internet.
Parents published information
without asking
In order to better understand sharenting as a
phenomenon and practice, we also looked into some
of the background data. In particular, we were
interested not only if sharenting had happened, but
also how often. We might hypothesise that there is a
difference between having something personal about
you published once, and having this experienced as
more of a regular practice.
We therefore also asked the children how often they
had experienced their parent/carer publishing
information (such as text, pictures or movies) about
them on the internet without asking first if they were
okay with it.
Here, children could answer on a scale from never to
daily or almost daily. In presenting the findings (see
Figure 113), we merged all the children who
answered
at least every month
or more often into
one group.
In general, only a minority of the children
experienced this form of sharenting. In the
majority of the countries, less than a third of the
children experienced having their parents publish
something online about them without asking
them first.
For most of these children, this happened only a
few times a year. This was reported by between
6% (Croatia) and 32% (Norway) of the children.
Between 1% (Germany, Lithuania and Slovakia)
and 11% (Romania) of the children reported that
they experienced this problem at least every
month or more often per year.
| 123 |
Figure 113: Parents published information
without asking in the past year, by country
* FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted
QF80 In the PAST YEAR, how often has this happened to
you? My parent or carer published information (such as text,
pictures or movies) about me on the internet without asking
first if I was OK with it.
Base: All children 12-16 who use the internet.
In all of the countries there are almost none or
very small gender differences (equal to or below
5 percentage points). Only in Switzerland the
gender difference it 7 percentage points. For
parsimony, we don’t include the figure.
Figure 114shows age differences among children
who experienced the problem at least a few times
a year.
In about half of the countries, there are almost
no differences between 12- to 14-year-olds and
15- to 16-year-olds.
In the Czech Republic, Spain, Finland, Malta,
Portugal and Serbia, more children in the oldest
age category report this experience (differences
of between 7 and 13 percentage points).
Figure 114: Parents published information
without asking in the past year, by age
* FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted
QF80 In the PAST YEAR, how often has this happened to
you? My parent or carer published information (such as text,
pictures or movies) about me on the internet without asking
first if I was OK with it. Percentage of children who
answered
a few times, at least every month, at least every
week,
or
daily or almost daily.
Base: All children 12-16 who use the internet.
5
1
4
11
7
3
4
8
1
3
6
5
7
3
1
5
4
14
7
17
17
22
7
32
20
7
13
6
8
17
14
8
19
11
81
92
79
72
71
89
64
72
92
84
89
87
76
84
91
76
85
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% At least every month or more often
% A few times
% Never
22
36
8
24
25
30
33
11
38
34
9
16
12
14
22
34
18
10
28
17
18
35
8
22
18
27
26
11
35
25
7
16
11
11
15
21
16
8
21
14
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 124 |
Children requesting parents
remove things they had published
on the internet
The second type of the sharenting we present in
more detail is when children request parents/carers
remove content they published on the internet
without their child’s consent. In Figure 115, we have
again merged all the children who answered at least
every month or more often into one group.
Figure 115: Children have asked parents to
remove things they had published on the
internet, by country.
* FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted
QF80 In the PAST YEAR, how often has this happened to
you? I asked my parent or carer to remove things they had
published on the internet.
Base: All children 12-16 who use the internet.
In most of the countries, the majority of the
children experienced this problem a few times a
year. This was reported by between 2%
(Lithuania) and 18% (Romania and Serbia) of the
children.
Fewer children report experiencing this problem
at least every month or more often during the
past year. As Figure 115 shows, this is reported
by between 1% (Germany, Estonia, Lithuania and
Slovakia) to 11% (Romania) of the children.
In most of the countries, the gender differences
are negligible (Figure 116). In the Czech Republic
and Spain, slightly more boys experience this at
least a few times or more often (a difference of 7
percentage points).
Figure 116: Children have asked parents to
remove things they had published on the
internet, by gender.
* FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted
QF80 In the PAST YEAR, how often has this happened to
you? I asked my parent or carer to remove things they had
published on the internet. Percentage of children who
answered
a few times, at least every month, at least every
week,
or
daily or almost daily.
Base: All children 12-16 who use the internet.
3
1
3
11
4
3
2
7
1
3
5
4
4
1
1
3
2
10
3
18
18
10
7
17
17
2
9
6
5
11
7
5
9
7
87
96
79
71
86
90
81
76
97
88
90
91
85
92
94
88
90
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% At least every month or more often
% A few times
% Never
14
5
23
28
17
10
22
25
4
13
9
8
19
10
6
16
12
12
4
18
30
12
11
17
23
3
11
11
10
12
5
6
9
7
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
% Boys % Girls
| 125 |
In most of the countries, there are none or only
minor differences between both age groups
(Figure 117).
In Spain, Finland, Serbia and Malta, slightly more
children in the oldest age category reported such
an experience (a difference of between 7 and 10
percentage points).
Points to consider
As explained at the beginning of this section,
sharenting can be consensual and informed or it
can be without a child’s agreement. In this
survey, we asked only about ‘problematic
sharenting’, i.e., when parents do not ask children
if it is okay. Future research should also look more
closely at consensual sharenting, i.e., when
children agree that parents can share the content
or even when they share the content together.
However, if younger children agreed with sharing
content between themselves, this does not mean
they will agree in the future about the content
that was shared. Older children might be more
aware of their privacy and may change their
opinion about what is okay and what is not okay
to share. It is always the parent’s responsibility to
carefully consider which content is potentially
hurtful or which may be seen by a child as
unwanted or inappropriate at a later age.
When people share content on the internet, it is
crucial to know to whom the content is shared.
The content can be shared with the public, friends
from a social network, or only in the family circle.
Future research should also investigate with
whom parents share the content, both
consensual and without the child’s agreement.
It is also unclear how many parents know or do
not know that sharing content without the child’s
agreement may potentially cause harm to their
child. It is probable that at least some parents are
not aware that sharenting may even be
dangerous for children. A public campaign to
increase awareness of parents about this
potentially damaging aspect of sharenting could
be considered. Nevertheless, as stated before,
parents also need to consider other negative
aspects, and should always act in the best
interests of their child.
Figure 117: Children have asked parents to
remove things they had published on the
internet, by age
* FI/RU/VL: Data not weighted
QF80 In the PAST YEAR, how often has this happened to
you? I asked my parent or carer to remove things they had
published on the internet. Percentage of children who
answered
a few times, at least every month, at least every
week,
or
daily or almost daily.
Base: All children 12-16 who use the internet.
15
21
4
20
25
27
17
9
21
30
4
12
10
12
16
23
10
8
13
12
12
20
5
15
17
30
13
11
19
21
2
12
11
7
9
13
7
5
11
9
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
CH
12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 126 |
Digital ecology
In this section, we focus on the children’s perception
of the online environment. How children see the
online environment is crucial, since it shapes their
online behaviour, limiting certain activities or, on the
other hand, boosting their confidence to engage in
others. Specifically, we were interested in whether or
not children feel safe online, and if they find people
online kind and helpful.
We asked the children how often the following
applies to them:
I feel safe on the internet.
I find other people are kind and helpful on the
internet.
The children answered on a scale ranging from never
to always. We focus on the frequency of these
experiences. When focusing on gender and age
differences, we compare the groups of children who
answered
never
or
sometimes
with those who
answered
often
or
always
.
Feeling safe online
To feel safe in the online environment is an important
factor for engagement in many online activities. If
children do not feel safe, they can’t fully reap all the
benefits that the internet offers and that were
described in ‘Online activities’.
A constant safe feeling (feeling like this
always
)
was reported by 17% to 51% of the children (Ave
= 29%). In Croatia, Norway, Portugal, and Serbia
over 40% of the children report feeling
always
safe.
Only between 2% and 20% of the children report
never feeling safe online (Ave = 11%).
In Switzerland, Czech Republic, Spain, Croatia,
Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal,
Romania, and Serbia, more boys than girls say
that they
often
or
always
feel safe on the internet.
The difference ranges between 6 (Romania) and
19 (Portugal) percentage points. In other
countries, the differences are negligible (equal to
or below 5 percentage points).
In most countries we find age differences in
feeling safe online, with more children in the
oldest age category reporting feeling
often
or
always
safe online. The differences range
between 7 percentage points in Norway and 22
percentage points in Portugal. Opposite trend is
in Slovakia, where more younger children feel
safe online (difference of 13 percentage points).
In Germany, Italy and Lithuania, the age
differences are negligible (equal to or below 5
percentage points).
Figure 118: Feeling safe online, by country.
* CH/FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available.
QD2a How often does the following apply to you? I feel safe
on the internet.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
29
17
42
23
44
17
42
25
26
17
51
27
19
33
21
26
37
36
40
31
45
40
37
34
49
38
42
36
29
30
33
40
23
33
14
29
9
27
16
26
20
36
6
24
36
22
27
27
11
14
5
16
3
16
6
15
5
9
2
14
16
15
20
7
0 50 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
% Always % Often % Sometimes % Never
| 127 |
Figure 119: Feeling safe online, by gender.
* CH/FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. FI/RU/VL:
Data not weighted.
QD2a How often does the following apply to you? I feel safe
on the internet Percentage of children who answered
always
or
often.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Figure 120: Feeling safe online, by age.
* CH/FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. FI/RU/VL:
Data not weighted.
QD2a How often does the following apply to you? I feel safe
on the internet Percentage of children who answered
always
or
often.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
61
67
54
44
42
56
91
49
73
53
74
55
47
79
85
43
70
65
71
50
61
69
95
60
79
64
81
58
61
84
89
61
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
% Boys % Girls
71
68
60
53
69
63
61
71
95
63
79
59
82
60
92
65
84
90
63
71
68
66
65
56
71
44
57
72
95
58
76
57
79
59
90
61
86
85
58
58
60
73
49
41
39
51
88
47
74
61
75
51
44
76
88
42
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 128 |
Perceptions of people online
Another crucial aspect related to pattern of internet
use is how children see other people on the internet.
This is especially important in relation to
communication with people online or seeking support
or information on the internet. Therefore, the survey
asked the children how often they find other people
are kind and helpful on the internet.
If we compare numbers of children who see
people as kind
never
and
always
, in most
countries, more children never see people online
as kind and helpful (Figure 121). The opposite
applies for Germany, Estonia, Croatia and Norway
(differences of between 7 and 16 percentage
points).
Countries are quite varied in this regard: between
3% (Norway) and 44% (Spain) of children
never
see people as kind and helpful online, while
between 2% (the Czech Republic) and 21%
(Germany) said they find this to be
always
true.
In Spain, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and
Serbia, more boys than girls
often
or
always
find
people as kind and helpful online (differences
ranging between 6 and 11 percentage points)
Figure 122). The opposite applies for Estonia and
Slovakia, with more girls saying the find people
kind and helpful online (difference of 8 and 15
percentage points, respectively). In Switzerland,
Czech Republic, Germany, France, Croatia,
Lithuania, Malta, and Norway, there are no
substantial gender differences (all below 5
percentage points).
Countries are varied with regard to age
differences, related to overall prevalence of this
experience Figure 123). In about half of the
countries, there are no substantial age
differences (equal to or below 5 percentage
points). However, in Estonia, Spain, France,
Malta, Norway, Poland, and Portugal, more
children in the oldest age category
often
or
always
find people kind and helpful online than
children in the youngest age category. The
difference ranges between 7 (Portugal) and 29
(Poland) percentage points. Exception is Slovakia,
where the trend is reverse (difference of 20
percentage points between youngest and oldest
age category).
Figure 121: Other people are kind and helpful
on the internet, by country.
* FI/RU/VL/CH: Full age range not available.
QD2b How often does the following apply to you? I find
other people are kind and helpful on the internet.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
10
8
3
7
7
7
18
8
9
13
19
6
10
16
21
2
32
34
18
26
22
21
55
37
37
33
33
33
20
45
51
16
41
50
53
49
59
44
24
40
45
39
35
43
27
32
23
60
16
9
26
19
13
27
3
15
9
15
12
18
44
8
5
22
0 50 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
% Always % Often % Sometimes % Never
| 129 |
Figure 122: Other people are kind and helpful
on the internet, by gender.
* CH/FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. FI/RU/VL:
Data not weighted.
QD2b How often does the following apply to you? I find
other people are kind and helpful on the internet.
Percentage of children who answered
always
or
often.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
Figure 123: Other people are kind and helpful
on the internet, by age.
* CH/FI/RU/VL: Full age range not available. FI/RU/VL:
Data not weighted.
QD2b How often does the following apply to you? I find
other people are kind and helpful on the internet.
Percentage of children who answered
always
or
often.
Base: All children 9-16 who use the internet.
41
49
18
27
23
23
74
47
44
43
50
39
27
65
70
16
44
34
25
38
33
33
73
44
48
50
55
40
32
57
74
20
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
% Boys % Girls
46
37
29
42
23
34
30
45
79
58
50
44
55
48
60
39
68
74
21
48
44
40
46
48
21
34
31
34
79
47
46
49
50
40
63
34
61
70
19
36
39
49
21
31
23
16
63
38
43
46
54
30
22
56
73
16
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ave
*VL
SK
*RU
RS
RO
PT
PL
NO
MT
LT
IT
HR
FR
*FI
ES
EE
DE
CZ
*CH
9-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
| 130 |
Points to consider
The findings show that while children feel safe
online, fewer of them find people online as kind
and helpful. There are almost no differences
between boys and girls in these regards.
However, in many of the countries, older children
feel more often safe.
The findings need to be interpreted taking the
formulations of the questions into account.
Specifically, we asked children about their
perceptions, not the actual state of thins. If
children report feeling safe online, it doesn’t
mean they are really safe online.
Moreover, although it is important for children to
feel safe or confident, we should also consider
that if not corresponding with actual state,
overconfidence or overestimation of the kindness
of people may result in negative experiences, for
example if children engage in hurtful
communication which results in harmful
outcomes.
It would be very fruitful to know why children
perceive the online environment in either a
positive or negative way. It would be especially
beneficial to know if their perception is shaped by
past and current experiences, or if it is related to
their overall views and perspectives. Future
research could also investigate the role of parents
in how children feel online.
| 131 |
Conclusions and policy
implications
Here we highlight new findings from this survey,
drawing out the main research and policy
implications. The differences within and across the
countries are summarised and discussed in turn,
before noting the next steps for research into
children’s online opportunities and risks in Europe.
Interpreting the
evidence
This EU Kids Online 2020 report has presented a
wealth of findings from 19 countries from children
aged 9–16. The data were collected between autumn
2017 and summer 2019 from 25,101 children by
national teams from the network. In relation to the
theoretical-analytical model presented at the
beginning of the report, the findings concern many
elements of the model
74
. These encompass children’s
online access and use, their digital activities and
skills, a range of activities posing risks of harm or
opportunity encountered by children, and
information about social contexts, including the
parental mediation that children receive. This is how
the main elements (white shapes in the model –
Figure 2 of this report) have been examined. The
survey asked more than we were able to include in
this report. For example, regarding children’s identity
and resources, we prioritised only age and gender
among the many possible factors that allow us to
differentiate among children’s experiences in relation
to the online environment. Most of the findings
presented here, we also note, concern the individual
level of the model. In relation to the social level, we
mostly focused on parents and to a lesser extent on
friends and teachers. Other elements in the model
remain for future investigation.
Also important is that we have presented descriptive
findings by age, gender and country, but have not,
as yet, examined the interrelations between the
elements in the model (shown in the model by white
74
Livingstone, S., Mascheroni, G., & Staksrud, E. (2018).
European research on children’s internet use: Assessing
the past and anticipating the future. New Media &
Society, 20(3), 1103–22.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816685930
75
Researchers will appreciate that underpinning the
present report is a substantial and rich dataset with
which many significant, complex and interesting
hypotheses can be tested. Some of these have already
been explored in the many reports and publications
arrows). Of most interest is whether and how
children’s online experiences shape their well-being
and their enjoyment of their rights, whether
positively or negatively. The next steps for the
network will be to conduct statistical analyses to test
the relationships in the model indicated by these
arrows. Most of these, we hypothesise, operate bi-
directionally, and most effects (whether on skills or
risks or well-being, for example) are likely to be
multiply determined
75
. From July 2021, the database
will be publicly available for all interested parties to
analyse.
Usefully, even basic descriptive statistics can serve to
counter myths, challenge media panics and, more
positively, ground interventions in policy and practice
by providing estimates of prevalence. For example,
according to the evidence, the degree to which
children are exposed to risk online is shown to be less
than sometimes feared by parents or claimed by
mass media. This doesn’t warrant the claim that
nothing should be done, but it does invite a careful
assessment of priorities, and a weighing of the
consequences of different kinds of interventions.
Relatedly, knowing which age groups, or genders,
are particularly missing out on online opportunities,
or are particularly affected by online risks of harm, is
of value to policy-makers in designing interventions
to improve children’s well-being in a digital world.
Some tasks for policy-makers, however, remain
seemingly simple but still only partially achieved. For
instance, although most children have received
internet safety advice, there remains a minority who
have not – these may be the so-called ‘hard to reach’
or disadvantaged children, but nonetheless, no child
should be left behind in the digital age, especially not
those already disadvantaged in other ways.
available on the website at www.eukidsonline.net
(under ‘Reports and findings’). Some hypotheses, too,
have been tested on Global Kids Online data, which has
fielded a similar survey questionnaire in a wide selection
of countries (Livingstone, S., Kardefelt Winther, D., &
Hussein, M., & UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti.
(2019a). Global Kids Online: Comparative Report. UNICEF
Office of Research – Innocenti. https://www.unicef-
irc.org/publications/1059-global-kids-online-
comparative-report.html).
| 132 |
Differences and
inequalities within
countries
A host of individual factors shape children’s digital
experiences and may introduce inequalities that
differentiate their access and use, opportunities and
risks, and forms of safety mediation, as explained at
the outset of this report. We also explained that the
findings presented in this report would be analysed
in terms of age and gender. This is because other
forms of difference and inequality that make a
difference to outcomes for children tend to vary by
country and culture. Even socioeconomic status is
difficult to measure in a way that is consistent across
European countries, and other factors (region,
religion, ethnicity, disability or other kinds of minority
status, and so forth) are even more variable. The fact
that we do not report or comment on such
differences in this report, especially regarding
socioeconomic status, does not mean we consider
them unimportant; rather, these await further
research.
Age
Differences are not necessarily inequalities but
observed differences in the survey findings may point
to inequalities of either opportunity or outcome that
do merit concern and, possibly, policy intervention.
For instance, for most online activities, the findings
show a strong age progression, with teenagers doing
a wider range of activities, and spending more time
on them, compared with younger children. This
means that teenagers enjoy a more diverse range of
activities, including some that can be considered
‘higher’ on the ‘ladder of opportunities’
76
. For
example, across Europe, the number of children who
use the internet for schoolwork every day ranges
from one in five to one in three, with only minor
gender differences. However, the proportion of older
teenagers who do this is around twice that of
younger children.
This could be considered part and parcel of growing
older and acting more independently in the world. Or
it could be considered problematic, with younger
76
Livingstone, S., Kardefelt-Winther, D., Kanchev, P.,
Cabello, P., Claro, M., Burton, P., & Phyfer, J. (2019b). Is
there a ladder of children’s online participation? Findings
from three Global Kids Online countries. UNICEF Office
of Research – Innocenti. www.unicef-
irc.org/publications/1019-ladder-of-childrens-online-
participation-findings-from-three-gko-countries.html
77
Livingstone, S., Kardefelt Winther, D., & Hussein, M., &
UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti. (2019a). Global
Kids Online: Comparative Report. UNICEF Office of
Research – Innocenti. https://www.unicef-
children being held back from enjoying many online
activities because of parental anxieties and
restrictions, or perhaps because of their lower levels
of digital skills due to receiving less digital education
at school (as also discussed by Global Kids Online
research; see Livingstone et al, 2019a). For example,
among the least common activities was ‘looking for
news online’, especially among younger children.
This raises policy questions about whether more
children – especially younger ones – should be more
proactively supported to engage more widely with
online opportunities, to encourage more civic,
participatory and creative benefits of internet access.
Similarly, does society consider that the internet is
more useful for the schoolwork of older than younger
children, or should changes be made so that younger
children also gain more educational benefits from
today’s digital world? Further research might address
the benefits (or harms) of online access, to help
address such questions. It might also usefully explore
whether certain activities (such as gaming – common
among younger children, or chatting – favoured by
older children) could even help to build the digital
skills needed for more ‘advanced’ or less common
activities
77
.
The European debate over setting lower age limits
for children to use digital platforms has been lively in
recent years. According to the evidence, any limits
set by platforms are only partially effective. Although
our age intervals do not permit us to report exactly
how many children under 13 use platforms whose
lower age limit is 13, this will be explored in further
research. Notably, we could discern no relation
between the so-called ‘digital age of consent’,
defined differently in different European countries
following adoption of the General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR)
78
, and the substantial proportion
of ‘under-age’ social media users or indeed, the levels
of children’s digital skills, amount of online risk
encountered or frequency of parental mediation in
different countries. This raises questions for policy-
makers as to the evidence base for national decisions
regarding the internet access of younger children
with or without parental permission.
Gender
It would seem odd not to report findings for boys and
girls, not least because of the long-standing evidence
that girls are relatively disadvantaged in a digital
world
79
. However, it is noteworthy that for the most
irc.org/publications/1059-global-kids-online-
comparative-report.html
78
Milkaite, I., & Lievens, E. (2019, December 20). Status
quo regarding the child's article 8 GDPR age of consent
for data processing across the EU. Better Internet for
Kids.
https://www.betterinternetforkids.eu/web/portal/practi
ce/awareness/detail?articleId=3017751
79
Sey, A., & Hafkin, N. (Eds.) (2019). Taking stock: Data
and evidence on gender equality in digital access, skills
and leadership. United Nations University Institute on
| 133 |
part, gender differences are few and far between.
Where they do exist, they are often inconsistent in
ways that are difficult to explain, with girls having
slightly more of some kinds of online experiences
than boys in one country, but with the reverse finding
in another country. One possible conclusion is that,
as gender inequalities in basic access to the internet
are gradually overcome, especially in the relatively
wealthy countries of Europe, and as use of the
internet becomes taken for granted in everyday life,
gender inequalities gradually disappear. Some
persistent differences – for instance, that boys do
more online gaming than girls – might be better
labelled ‘gender preferences’ rather than inequalities.
Yet it may be that gaming builds digital skills in ways
that benefit boys more than girls, in which case
intervention of some kind may be needed.
The general lack of gender differences applies not
only to opportunities but also to the risk of harm:
asked whether, in the past year, they had
experienced something that bothered or upset them,
around one in four 9- to 16-year-olds said ‘yes’, but
gender differences were minimal in most of the
countries. This reflected, in turn, the finding that few
of the risks (for example, meeting new online
contacts face-to-face or sending/receiving sexual
messages or exposure to self-harm) asked about
were experienced very differently by boys or girls.
On the other hand, some gender differences persist
and do, we suggest, merit research explanation and
policy intervention. These include:
In some countries (for example, Switzerland,
Malta, and Slovakia), girls use the internet
somewhat more for schoolwork than boys.
Boys report better skills in some countries, and
for some skills, for instance, the ability to navigate
information online and determine its quality,
although girls report better social skills online in
some countries.
As for the risk of harm, harm from online bullying
was more often reported by girls in almost all
countries. Gender differences in exposure to
sexual images online are greater, with more boys
reporting this in almost half of the countries
surveyed, but girls reporting more negative
emotions concerning sexual images. Further, in a
Computing and Society/International
Telecommunications Union.
www.itu.int/en/action/gender-
equality/Documents/EQUALS%20Research%20Report%2
02019.pdf
80
Helsper, E.J., Kalmus, V., Hasebrink, U., Sagvari, B., &
de Haan, J. (2013). Country classification: Opportunities,
risks, harm and parental mediation. EU Kids Online, LSE.
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/52023/
81
O’Neill (2014) further showed that these cross-
national differences are not just a matter of children’s
and parents’ activities or values but also, national policy
few countries, girls more than boys are more
exposed to pro-anorexia content.
Across Europe, more boys than girls reported
spending too much money on in-app purchases
or online games, as well as getting a virus or
spyware. This is probably related to their general
higher usage of online games.
Comparisons across
countries
The EU Kids Online model includes a range of
country-level mediators such as broadband
infrastructure or education systems that could
explain observed differences in children’s online
experiences by country. These country-level factors
have not been measured in the present study, and it
remains for future research to map these onto the
findings, as was previously done for the 2010 EU Kids
Online survey
80
. In that earlier report, we grouped
countries according to the survey findings, revealing
four country clusters: those ‘protected by restrictions’
(especially Western European countries), ‘supported
risky explorers’ (Nordic and Northern European
countries), ‘semi-supported risky gamers’ (mainly in
Eastern Europe) and ‘unprotected networkers’
(middle European countries). What seemed to make
the difference between the first two clusters was the
cultural balance struck differently in different parts of
Europe between favouring children’s civil rights and
freedoms online (to explore, express themselves,
etc), even if this may put children at risk, or favouring
a more protective approach given a context of online
risk and associated parental anxiety, even if this was
at the cost of children’s online opportunities. Children
in the other two country clusters tended to
experience both online opportunities and risks,
because parental mediation was less, especially in
the case of the ‘unprotected networkers’
81
.
Much has changed since the EU Kids Online survey in
2010, but variation in national approach is still
considerable. This is evident from the considerable
cross-national differences shown in many of the
figures included in this report. In this regard, we
stress here (and through the whole report) that
caution is needed in making any simple comparisons
and implementation. Specifically, the first two clusters of
countries had invested in a greater breadth and depth of
safer internet practices at a national level. Furthermore,
‘protected by restrictions’ countries relied more on legal
and regulatory frameworks that prioritised safety, while
‘supported risky explorers’ countries prioritised public
sector funding and involvement in enabling children’s
internet use, often centred on educational initiatives.
The other two country clusters revealed fewer initiatives
and less coordination, relying more on the actions of the
European Commission-funded Safer Internet Centres.
| 134 |
of percentages across countries given the variation in
methodology.
In this final section, we focus more on the links
between selected factors, to capture key patterns
across the countries. While in-depth analysis must
wait for future research, we present here three final
figures, exploring the relations among key variables
to reveal country groupings and to raise questions
about whether these groupings merit distinct types
of policy action. These figures present simple
scatterplots of countries plotted on two key variables,
to capture their interrelations and differences.
First, consider the relationship between access (or
use) and activities. It may be supposed that more use
of the internet results in a wider range of online
activities. Broadly, this is indeed the case, as shown
in Figure 124. As internet use (here, the proportion
of children who go online daily with their mobile
phone) rises in a country, so does the average
number of online activities (out of 15) undertaken by
children in the past month in that country. The graph
shows clearly that children in some countries have
less access and, presumably related, fewer
opportunities to benefit from the internet. France,
Switzerland and Italy are not the poorest countries in
Europe, so access cannot simply be a matter of
affluence or lack thereof (whether measured at the
level of families or national resources).
Furthermore, there is a fair amount of variation in
Figure 124. For instance, in Italy, Spain and Malta,
the level of internet use is more or less similar (nearly
80% of children go online via their mobile phone
daily), but the average number of online activities
varies from just over seven (Italy) to eight (Spain) to
almost ten (Malta). The reason for this is surely worth
investigating, for perhaps Malta’s family, educational
or policy context is more encouraging for children?
Also, why do German children do so much less online
than their counterparts in other countries, even when
they have almost the best access in terms of
frequency and, presumably, convenience?
It has been important in the EU Kids Online
conceptual framework to recognise that while online
risk carries a probability of harm to a child, harm is
not inevitable. Many factors can make a child more
resilient or vulnerable to the consequences of
exposure to risk. This report 2020 findings show that
a large majority of children have not been bothered
or upset by something online in the past year. This is
important to keep in mind since the mass media
highlight, even exaggerate, the problems that
children experience online, and since parental
anxieties are often considerable. On the other hand,
the percentage of children who reported that they
82
These seven risks were, percentage of children:
treated in a hurtful or nasty way on a mobile phone or
on the internet; who had seen sexual images; who had
received sexual messages; who had met online contacts
offline; who experienced misuse of personal data; who
had been bothered or upset on the internet in 2010
varied from 6% to 25% across countries – a
considerably lower proportion overall than observed
in this survey when it was from 7% to 45%.
Figure 124: The proportion of 9- to 16-year-
olds who access the internet, and their
frequency of online activities, by country.
Over and above the finding that reports of exposure
to risk are generally higher than reports of harm, as
measured by whether children have been upset or
bothered by something online, we also found
national variation in the relation between risk and
harm. This is shown in Figure 125 below. The
horizontal dimension shows variation in how many
risks children in a country reported in the past year,
on average, measured out of the seven risks we
asked about
82
. As may be seen, children in Croatia
reported the fewest risks, and children in Russia the
most. The vertical dimension shows the percentage
of children who reported being upset by something
online in the past year, with the fewest children in
Slovakia and most children in Malta saying ‘yes’ this
had happened to them.
Clearly there is a broadly positive association
between the two measures – the more risks, the
more harm, as children report it. Yet there is also a
lot of variation that invites further investigation. For
example, children in Germany report more risks than
those in Slovakia yet no more harm: possibly, the
safer internet provision in Germany is greater, so that
encountering risk is less likely to result in children
being upset, by comparison with the situation in
Slovakia. Overall, too, we see one group of countries
where higher risk is not linked to more harm –
experienced one or more type of negative user-
generated content; who agreed to one or more of the
items related to excessive use. For the exact measures
used, see the relevant section in the report.
CH
CZ
DE
EE
ES
FR
HR
IT
LT
MT
NO
PL
PT
RO
RS
SK
7
8
9
10
60 70 80 90 100
Activities online (number in the past month)
Internet access (% who go online daily via a
mobile phone)
| 135 |
Germany, Norway and Portugal. Then there are
countries where even just a few risks are linked to
more harm – Estonia and Spain in particular.
While certainly the countries where both risk and
harm are highest (top-right quadrant) merit
investigation and possible intervention, our point
here is that policy interventions should focus more on
reducing harm than risk. This is because, as EU Kids
Online
83
has shown, children cannot develop
resilience if they are protected from all forms of risk,
and further, such protections are often achieved by
also limiting children’s online opportunities. In other
words, there may be much to be learned from
countries in which children encounter as much risk,
but less harm, than in other countries. Do those
countries practise more parental mediation? Or do
they have better regulation of platforms? Or a culture
of respecting children’s expression of concern and of
providing help services? Such questions remain for
further research.
Figure 125: The number of online risks
encountered by 12- to 16-year-olds, and the
proportion who report being upset or bothered
online in the past year, by country.
We should caution at this point that our measures of
both risk (adding up reports of different activities,
traditionally perceived as risks) and of harm (saying
that something upset the child in the past year) are
rather simple and may be subject to critique. It
might, for instance, be argued that a child is harmed
by exposure to pornography even if the child says it
didn’t upset them. Also, a child may encounter one
severe risk that results in more or longer-term
problems than a casual and mild exposure to a range
of different risks. Consequently, our present
discussion is intended more to invite reflection and
further investigation than to pronounce definitively
83
Livingstone, S., Haddon, L., & Görzig, A. (Eds.).
(2012). Children, risk and safety online: Research
and policy challenges in comparative perspective.
Policy Press.
on the relation between risk and harm in different
countries and cultures.
A holistic approach
to children’s well-
being in a digital
world
A holistic approach to children’s well-being is often
called for but less easy to deliver. It is still the case
that most researchers and policy-makers concentrate
either on the opportunities of a digital world –
concerned with education or civic participation or
creative expression, for example – or on the risks of
harm to children – concerned with e-safety, parental
mediation or internet regulation. Achieving a holistic
approach – whether at the level of a country or
culture, or for an individual child – remains difficult.
Those excited by digital opportunities still tend to
neglect or postpone thinking about the ways in which
increasing opportunities tend to go hand in hand with
increasing the risks of the digital world for children.
Those who prioritise child protection and safety may
struggle to realise that their interventions could also
serve to limit children’s civil rights and freedoms.
We conclude this report with a final figure that makes
a simple, but we believe, important point: countries
are striking a different balance between risks and
opportunities. The reasons for this, and whether the
balance achieved is desirable or warrants
intervention, should be examined. One contribution
of a multi-country comparative research project is
that countries can learn from each other – both by
reflecting on their position in the mix of comparative
findings, and by identifying which countries appear
to have achieved the position that they might desire
– and so they can inquire further into the conditions
that apply in other countries.
In Figure 126, we plot countries along two key
dimensions already discussed above – one captures
the number of risks children encounter (measured
out of seven risks asked about in this report), the
other the online activities they undertake (here, a
proxy measure for opportunities taken up). By
plotting them against each other, we highlight the
balance in each country between children’s online
opportunities and risks. Again, we see a broadly
positive association – the more opportunities, the
more risks – although the relationship is not as strong
as the previous two country scatterplots.
CH
CZ
DE
EE
ES
FR
HR
IT
LT
MT
NO
PL
PT
RO
RS
SK
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
0 1 2 3
% Experience harm
Number of risks encountered in past year
| 136 |
What this suggests to us is that if, on the one hand,
a country takes steps to increase the opportunities
available to children, this may bring more risks. And
on the other hand, if they take steps to reduce the
risks, this may also reduce children’s opportunities.
However, the association shown is fairly weak. This
suggests that there may be ways of increasing
opportunities without increasing risks too much. For
example, in Lithuania and Estonia, it seems that
children undertake many more online activities than
children in Italy, but without an increase in their
online risk. Looked at another way, children in
Lithuania and Estonia enjoy as many opportunities as
the children in the countries in the top-right
quadrant, but in the latter countries, levels of risk are
higher. While we do not know what country or social
level factors account for these differences, it may be
that policy-makers in a higher risk/lower opportunity
country can learn from initiatives in countries where
risks are lower or opportunities are higher.
Not only does it appear that in Lithuania and Estonia
children enjoy a positive online experience, but in the
countries positioned in the top-left quadrant
(Germany, Switzerland and Norway) they appear to
have the worst of both worlds, relatively speaking:
fewer opportunities, but more risks. In the countries
in the lower left-hand quadrant, children’s
engagement with the internet is generally lower,
whether because of more limited access and use or
a greater culture of protection and safety, or for
some other reason. In short, not only may different
countries define their goals for children online in
different ways, but they also have different kinds of
outcomes. These may or may not require
intervention, but the cross-national differences are
surely thought-provoking.
Finally, we note that although both the 2010 EU Kids
Online survey and this survey were cross-sectional in
design, with some differences also in the exact
questions asked, we have been able to observe some
constant findings and some changes
84
. Some of these
changes – most notably, in the extent of children’s
digital access and use, and in the proportion of online
risks that children encounter and report to be
upsetting – call for urgent interventions in policy and
practice. At the same time, the slow pace of
improvement in children’s levels of digital skills or
their enjoyment of online opportunities (especially
those that include creative, civic and participatory
activities) is also concerning. For this reason, as in all
our work, we urge that attention to the risks of harm
does not obscure the imperative to ensure that
children benefit fully and fairly from society’s
widespread adoption of all things digital.
Figure 126: The number of online activities
undertaken by 12- to 16-year-olds, and the
number of risks that they encountered, by
country.
Just how this can be achieved is still open to debate.
Where appropriate, we have noted some policy
implications regarding the situation for Europe as a
whole. Specific implications for particular countries
are also highlighted in the country profile pages at
the end of this report. Importantly, this is a fast-
changing environment, in which evidence is still
lacking and good practice not yet evaluated. For this
reason, the report invites its readers to ask questions,
and to consider possibilities with an open mind, by
identifying ‘points to consider’ throughout the
foregoing text. We also hope that the country
comparisons are thought-provoking, inviting a wider
European debate about the next steps, and providing
evidence that can guide the selection of policies or
practical initiatives, and against which future
developments can be benchmarked.
84
Livingstone, S., Haddon, L., Görzig, A., & Ólafsson, K.
(2011). Risk and safety on the internet: The perspective
of European children. Full findings from the EU Kids
Online survey of 9-16 year olds and their parents. EU
Kids Online, LSE. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/33731/
CH
CZ
DE
EE
ES
FR
HR
IT
LT
MT
NO
PL
PT
RO
RS
SK
0
1
2
3
7 8 9 10
Number of risks encountered in past year
Number of online activities in past month
| 137 |
Country profiles
This section contains country profiles of the 19
countries that participated in this survey. They were
authored by researchers from national teams, listed
in each profile. Most profiles also contain links to
national reports, which provide more information
concerning findings at a national level. It should be
noted that the country profiles do not summarise the
results for each country, and are not based on a
comparison of international data.
The country profiles aim to show specific national
results that may be of interest for readers wanting to
learn more about the findings of respective countries.
As this report focuses only on selected core items
used in the questionnaire, and its main goal is to
present the results from all the countries, the space
to present specific findings for a national level was
limited.
The country profiles aim to provide a glimpse into the
rich nature of the collected data in the context of the
selected country-specific findings. These are centred
on the key national results as well as highlights from
each country that go beyond the results presented in
this report. This includes several types of national-
level data that are, for the most part, not present in
the main text of this report – specifically, findings
based on additional questions added by respective
countries in their survey, findings based on data
provided by parents of interviewed children, or the
results of more complex analyses of national data
that provide more insight into the national context.
Citing country profiles
Please cite the country profiles in the following way:
In-text reference: (names of members of the national
EU Kids Online team, 2020)
Full reference:
Names of members of the national EU Kids Online
team (2020) EU Kids Online 2020: Country. In
Smahel D., Machackova H., Mascheroni, G., Dedkova
L., Staksrud E., Olafsson K., Livingstone S., Hasebrink
U.,
EU Kids Online 2020: Survey results from 19
countries
. EU Kids Online.
| 138 |
Croatia (HR)
Croatian EU Kids Online team
Lana Ciboci, Ivana Ćosić Pregrad, Igor Kanižaj, Dunja
Potočnik and Dejan Vinković
Contact: Association for Communication and Media
Culture, Zagreb, Croatia
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Croatian national report
Ciboci, L., Ćosić Pregrad, I., Kanižaj, I., Potočnik, D.
& Vinković, D. (2020). Nacionalno istraživanje
sigurnosti djece i mladih na internetu – HR Kids
Online. Zagreb: Društvo za komunikacijsku i
medijsku kulturu.
Key findings
The survey included 1,017 children aged 9 to 17 and
their parents, with the participation of a parent who
was more familiar with the digital habits of their
children; 78.4% of the parent participants were
mothers. More than three-quarters of children use
the internet every weekday. Children, as well as their
parents, mostly access the internet via a mobile
phone or smartphone. Children spend more time
‘hanging out’ and having fun with their friends face-
to-face rather than via online activities. The results
show that most of the children aged 9 to 17 use the
internet at least once a week for educational
purposes both at school and at home.
Some parents are not very familiar with their
children’s online activities. Almost every fifth child
between the ages of 9 and 17 points out that their
parents ‘never’ or ‘almost never’ talk to them about
what they do on the internet. This is not surprising
given that two-thirds of parents think that children
are more proficient than them in using new
technologies. Parents talk more often with younger
children about online activities. When it comes to
monitoring internet usage, parents most often check
websites their child has visited, their messages on
email or other applications, and view their profiles on
social networks. Children who have troublesome
experiences on the internet are more likely to ignore
advice from their parents. In addition to rarely
receiving parental support for internet usage, the
research shows that they also rarely get support from
teachers. Older children are more likely to be
supported by teachers in using the internet than
younger children.
Highlights
Almost every third child between the ages of 9 and
17 communicated online with someone they did not
go on to meet in person. There are more boys (34%)
than girls (27%) among this group, with 50% in the
15–17 age group. Only 13% of the parents knew that
their child had had contact with a person on the
internet they had not had face-to-face contact with
before; 14% met offline with a person they had met
online. This increases with age, so in this group the
majority are children aged 15 to 17 (27%), then
children aged from 12 to 14 (12%), and finally, 3%
of the youngest children (aged 9 to 11).
Thirty per cent of children aged 9 to 17 have seen
sexual content online. Among them, over two-thirds
have seen sexual photos or films with nudity on the
internet in the past year, despite having no intention
of seeing such content, while almost a fifth have seen
such content intentionally.
| 139 |
Czech Republic (CZ)
Czech EU Kids Online team
David Smahel, Hana Machackova, Lenka Dedkova,
Marie Bedrosova, Rostislav Zlamal, Vojtech Mylek,
Jakub Mikuska, Nikol Kvardova, Jakub Brojac,
Martina Smahelova
Contact: Masaryk University, Brno, Jostova 10,
60200, Czech Republic
Email: [email protected]
Czech national report
Bedrošová, M., Hlavová, R., Macháčková, H.,
Dědková, L. & Šmahel, D. (2018). Czech children and
adolescents on the internet: Report from a survey at
primary and secondary schools. EU Kids Online IV in
the Czech Republic 2017–2018. Brno: Masaryk
University,
https://irtis.muni.cz/media/3137007/eu_kids_online
_report_2018_en_main.pdf
Key findings
Czech children aged 9 to 17 most frequently use
smartphones to access the internet – 84% do so
daily. Older children generally use the internet more
often and participate in more online activities;
consequently, they also encounter more online risks.
Interestingly, some commonly feared online risks do
not seem to upset Czech young people very often.
After encountering sexually explicit content, 41%
reported feeling happy and 39% were not upset.
Similarly, 78% were happy and 10% were not upset
after a face-to-face meeting with a person they only
knew from the internet. It is worth noting that a
majority of such meetings (67%) was with someone
their age, and only 7% were with adults.
There are some intriguing gender differences
regarding online risks. For example, while slightly
more boys received sexually charged messages, girls
were more often specifically asked to share intimate
information. Girls also encountered online content
supporting extreme thinness more frequently. On the
other hand, more boys than girls struggle with
computer viruses and spend too much money on in-
app purchases and online games. Regarding
cyberaggression, girls, as well as younger children,
were more upset after being attacked online. The
highest percentage of cyber aggressors was among
older boys aged 13 to 17 (19%), more than twice as
much as among girls of the same age (8%).
Highlights
Some Czech children are exposed to harmful content
– 27% saw hate messages, 19% saw gory or violent
images and 17% saw eating disorder-related
websites at least once a month. In the Czech
Republic, exposure to harmful content is associated
with children’s emotional problems and sensation-
seeking. Parental mediation strategies – enabling,
restrictive and technical mediation – were not
associated with exposure to harmful content.
However, a positive family environment was a
protective factor.
Therefore, it seems that while restricting access to
the internet doesn’t work, it might help if parents
could focus on building good relationships with their
children.
| 140 |
Estonia (EE)
Estonian EU Kids Online team
Veronika Kalmus, Andra Siibak, Maria Murumaa-
Mengel, Kadri Soo and Marit Sukk
Contact: Institute of Social Studies, University of
Tartu, Lossi 36, 51003 Tartu, Estonia
Email: [email protected]
Estonian national report
Sukk, M. & Soo, K. (2018). EU Kids Online’i Eesti
2018. Aasta uuringu esialgsed tulemused. Kalmus,
V., Kurvits, R., Siibak, A. (Eds). Tartu: University of
Tartu, Institute of Social Studies,
https://sisu.ut.ee/sites/default/files/euko/files/eu_ki
ds_online_eesti_2018_raport.pdf
Summary (in English):
https://sisu.ut.ee/sites/default/files/euko/files/eu_ki
ds_online_2018_estonia_summary.pdf
Key findings
The use of the internet is thoroughly embedded in
Estonian children’s daily lives: 97% of children aged
9 to 17 access the internet every day, using at least
one device. Children from Russian-speaking families
spend more time online than children from Estonian-
speaking families (both on schooldays and at
weekends). For example, only 6% of Estonian-
speaking children spent more than 6 hours online
during the week, while the proportion of heavy users
among Russian-speaking children was 14%.
Searching for new friends and contacts plays a big
role in children’s online communication. Almost half
(46%) of the children had had online contact with
someone they had never met face-to-face. Every
third child who had had contact with strangers on the
internet had also met that person face-to-face.
In eight years, the percentage of children who had
experienced cyberbullying had not decreased,
despite numerous stakeholder initiatives. Thirty-nine
per cent of the children had encountered harmful
websites, most often hate speech. Most of those
Estonian children who had experienced online harm
used a communicative coping strategy, mostly
consulting their friends or parents. The latter,
however, were not always aware of their children’s
encounters of internet risks, as more than a quarter
of the children tended to keep their negative online
experiences to themselves.
Estonian parents can still be considered active
mediators of their children’s internet use and safety.
Most of the parents (92%) said that they had talked
to their child about what the child did online, and
59% had given advice about using the internet
safely. Children, however, considered their parents’
role in the social mediation of their internet use much
smaller.
Highlights
Estonian children and their parents are active and
confident internet users, with less than half of the
children claiming they needed some guidance when
using the internet; 79% of the parents said that they
knew a lot about using the internet. The myth about
‘digital natives’ still prevails among Estonian parents.
Only half of them believed that they knew more
about the internet compared to their children, even
though the data about skills did not confirm this.
| 141 |
Finland (FI)
Finnish EU Kids Online team
Sirkku Kotilainen, Jussi Okkonen, Juho Hella and
Vilppu Taskinen
Contact: Tampere University, FIN-33014 Tampere
University, Finland
Email: [email protected]
Key findings
In Finland 97% of the children have access to a
smartphone and most have their own phone. Eighty-
five per cent of all participants are online daily, and
80% of pupils at upper comprehensive schools are
online several times a day or almost all the time.
Girls, especially those aged 12 and older, are active
users of smartphones. Boys go online via a computer
or gaming device. Age is a significant factor, as those
at upper comprehensive schools are almost always
online, if possible.
Gender has no significance for activity level, yet
services, application and agency differ significantly
by gender. Boys play games on global forums and
use different digital content provided by different
platforms. Girls communicate or share content
among their own circles with those with whom
already have at least some relationship.
Being online is for entertaining oneself and avoiding
boredom. Hardly any of the participants considered
themselves socially active or used the internet for any
purpose other than entertainment at school.
Traditional social media was particularly unpopular as
well as participating in online campaigns (10%) – less
than 2% had participated in online discussions on
social issues, an online petition or another similar
activity.
Highlights
The participants are tolerant and see no justification
for violence or bullying. About 40% have recently
seen bullying or hate speech online. A little over 10%
have been bullied in some way online. This was the
same between boys and girls, although girls reported
being bullied because of their appearance or
background. About 10% of participants had sent
negative comments, messages or content online.
Participants saw non-wanted content, such as
negative comments, bullying or explicit content, on
the platforms they use or on communication apps.
Ninety per cent of the children feel safe most of the
time when online. Seventy-five per cent considered
themselves competent online, that is, they could use
a device, change settings and understood security
and privacy issues – yet only 50% thought they could
make a distinction between incorrect or false content.
Over 80% knew what content could be shared online.
| 142 |
Flanders – Belgium
(VL)
Belgian EU Kids Online team
Leen d’Haenens, Joyce Vissenberg, Marlies Debrael,
Bieke Zaman and Joke Bauwens
Contact: Institute for Media Studies, KU Leuven,
Parkstraat 45, PO box 3603, B-3000 Leuven
Email: [email protected]
Key findings
Eighty-three per cent of the Flemish 13- to 17-year-
old participants (N = 1,180) predominantly use their
smartphone to go online, where they mainly
communicate with friends and family (79%).
However, the outcomes of internet use are not
always beneficial, as Flemish young people are also
exposed to risky content online. For example, up to
34% have seen hate speech online against certain
groups of people (such as Muslim or Jewish people
and migrants), 26% of whom saw it at least once a
week; 11% of those who had been exposed to hate
speech had searched for it themselves. Only a
minority of Flemish young people (7%) had sent or
posted hate speech messages online.
Furthermore, Flemish young people were most
exposed to potentially harmful content concerning
violence (16% at least once a month) and drug use
(14% at least once a month).
Flemish young people employ various coping
strategies when they feel distressed after an online
risky experience. For example, those who had
received sexual messages online at least once a
month (12%) mainly coped by talking to their peers
about it (32%), by neglecting the problem (26%) or
by blocking the sender (20%). Similarly, those who
are the victims of cyberbullying at least once a month
(7%) mainly talk to their peers (40%) and parents
(22%) about it. They mostly try to neglect the
problem (33%), block the perpetrator (30%) or try
to make sure the perpetrator leaves them alone
(29%).
Highlights
Flemish young people were asked to evaluate their
digital skills: basic skills (e.g. changing privacy
settings), advanced skills (e.g. using keyboard
shortcuts), expert skills (e.g. programming
languages) and reflective skills (e.g. deciding
whether online information is true). Strikingly, digital
skills do not protect them from online risks (while
controlling for age, gender and time spent online).
On the contrary, 9% with above-average expert skill
levels were exposed to risky online content once a
month, while this was only true for 2% of those with
below-average expert skills.
Digital skills do not seem to guard young people from
feelings of harm after an online risk experience: there
are no significant differences in harm experienced
after online risk exposure based on a young person’s
basic, advanced, expert or reflective skill levels.
| 143 |
France (FR)
French EU Kids Online team
Catherine Blaya, Omara Sansegundo Moreno,
Catherine Audrin and Sylvia Trieu
Contact: Bureau 317 – URMIS – MSHS Sud Est, Pôle
universitaire, St Jean d’Angély – 24 avenue des
Diables Bleus, 06357, Nice, Cedex 4
Email: [email protected]
Key findings
Sixty-two per cent of young people access the
internet daily using their mobile phone and 39% use
a computer. A third of the participants use tablets.
The average time spent online daily is 2 hours and 6
minutes during the week and 3 hours and 16 minutes
during weekends. Eight per cent of the participants
spend over 6 hours a day online during the week and
18% at weekends. Those who spend more time
online are young people aged 14 to 15 during the
week and those aged 16 to 17 during weekends. Fifty
per cent of the children have a profile on a social
network. The most used application is Snapchat
(25%), with a significant difference between girls and
boys (31.6% vs 17.7%). Facebook comes second,
with 23%. The majority of children in France use the
internet for entertainment (videos and music) and
communication.
As for safety, 60% of the children report knowing
what they should or should not publish on the
internet. A small majority (51%) report that they
know what to do if something online bothers or
upsets them and 53% know how to block unwanted
contacts; only 44% can manage their safety
parameters. Thirty-one per cent know how to keep
track of the cost of their mobile app use. Forty per
cent had been sent nasty or hurtful messages online
during the year preceding the survey, among which
8.4% reported this happened often.
Highlights
Exposure and involvement in cyberhate, that is, hate
based on ethnic or religious criteria, is a preoccupying
societal issue as it impacts not only individuals but
also their communities and social cohesion. The
majority of young people understand that cyberhate
is a form of aggression and that it has negative
consequences on people’s lives. Participants were
involved as exposed, victims or perpetrators.
However, 15% stated that they had been exposed to
cyberhate (racism, xenophobia or religious-based
content), 3% had been victims of cyberhate and 2%
self-reported being authors of cyberhate.
Although these percentages are small, being a victim
is associated with negative outcomes and should be
taken seriously. Structural equation models highlight
that offline victimisation and cyberhate are correlated
with both cyberhate perpetration and victimisation.
Moreover, victimisation is related to negative and
deviant behaviours (lying, stealing, fighting, etc.) and
it affects wellbeing as victims score higher levels of
anxiety and impulsivity and have lower self-esteem.
| 144 |
Germany (DE)
German EU Kids Online team
Uwe Hasebrink, Claudia Lampert and Kira Thiel
Contact: Leibniz Institute for Media Research |Hans-
Bredow-Institut (HBI), Rothenbaumchaussee 36,
20148 Hamburg, Germany
Email: [email protected]
German national report
Hasebrink, U., Lampert, C. & Thiel, K. (2019). Online-
Erfahrungen von 9- bis 17-Jährigen. Ergebnisse der
EU Kids Online-Befragung in Deutschland 2019. 2.
überarb. Auflage. Hamburg: Verlag Hans-Bredow-
Institut, bit.ly/EUKO_DE
Summary (in English): bit.ly/EUKidsOnline_DE_engl
Key findings
Despite the many opportunities of being online,
digitally engaged children are exposed to various
cyber risks. Exposure to sexual, violent or hateful
content and risks associated with personal disclosure
(e.g. giving out personal information) appear quite
frequently. Contact as well as conduct risks vary in
incidence. While bullying (online or offline) and
receiving or sending sexual messages seem quite
normal, meeting online contacts offline is less
common. However, only 9% of children and
adolescents (aged 9 to 17) state that, in the past
year, they have been bothered or upset by something
they experienced online. On the contrary, meeting an
online contact in real life was a pleasant experience
for the majority of the children (63%). The same
applies to sexual images and messages, which some
participants – especially teenage boys – enjoy and
even turn to actively. These findings indicate that
adolescents have a different perception of online
risks than adults.
Regarding digital citizenship, German findings show
that most of the 9- to 17-year-olds have heard about
#FridaysForFuture (83%), 39% have informed
themselves on the internet and 14% have
participated in demonstrations. However, the
children and adolescents tend to rate their own
knowledge of politics and current world affairs
(internal political efficacy) as rather low. The same
applies to the feeling of being able to influence
political events (external political efficacy).
Highlights
Sometimes it is not the children but their parents
whose thoughtless online behaviour puts them at risk
online: 9% of German children and adolescents say
that their parent or carer published a picture of them
without their permission, which, in some cases (4%),
led to mean or hurtful comments. Thus, it is crucial
to raise parents’ awareness of possible negative
consequences, and to point out their children’s right
to privacy.
| 145 |
Italy (IT)
Italian EU Kids Online team
Giovanna Mascheroni and Piermarco Aroldi
Contact: OssCom, Università Cattolica del Sacro
Cuore, Largo Gemelli 1, 20123 Milano
Email: [email protected]
Italian national report
Mascheroni, G. & Ólafsson, K. (2018). Accesso, usi,
rischi e opportunità di internet per i ragazzi italiani. I
risultati di EU Kids Online 2017. EU Kids Online,
OssCom, www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-
communications/assets/documents/research/eu-
kids-online/reports/EU-Kids-Online-Italy-report-06-
2018.pdf
Summary (in English): www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-
communications/assets/documents/research/eu-
kids-online/reports/Executive-summary-Italy-june-
2018.pdf
Key findings
Italian children aged 9 to 17 go online primarily from
their smartphones – 84% do so daily. While the
internet is an integral part of children’s daily lives,
differences persist in online activities and, more
significantly, in online skills. With misinformation
being one of the highest concerns on the public
agenda, it is striking that only 42% of Italian children
reportedly find it easy to check if the information they
find online is true.
The number of children who have felt bothered
(upset, uncomfortable or scared) by something they
experienced on the internet has more than doubled,
from 6% in 2013 to 13% in 2017 (and from 3% to
13% among 9- to 10-year-olds). The most common
risk is being exposed to harmful user-generated
content (UGC) – 51% of 11- to 17-year-olds have
been exposed to at least one form of negative UGC
in the past year, including hate messages (31%).
Most feel sad, angry and full of hatred for what they
have seen. However, 58% of those who have seen
hate speech in the past year did nothing about it.
Similarly, 50% of children who have witnessed
someone else being bullied on the internet reportedly
did nothing about it.
Highlights
One in three children adopt passive responses to
online risks that bother them, and one in four do not
talk to anyone about what happened. This is
surprising, since children report living in supportive
and safe environments at home, school and among
peers. Italian parents adopt especially enabling
mediation practices, thus favouring dialogue over
restrictions. However, findings suggest that the
internet is perceived as more of a risky place than an
opportunity: 52% of parents suggest ways to use the
internet safely and 38% help children when
something bothers them on the internet, but only
21% encourage children to explore and learn things
on the internet. Teachers make rules and friends
suggest things to do.
| 146 |
Lithuania (LT)
Lithuanian EU Kids Online team
Vilmante Pakalniskiene, Neringa Grigutyte and Saule
Raizienė
Contact: Vilnius University, Institute of Psychology,
Universiteto 9, Vilnius 01513, Lithuania
Email: [email protected]
Lithuanian national report
Pakalniskiene, V., Raizeine, S. & Grigutyte, N. (2018).
Lithuanian children on the internet: Report from a
survey in 2018. Project EU Kids Online IV. Vilnius
University.
Key findings
The findings show that 92% of children aged 9 to 17
access the internet daily, using at least one device.
The most common way to access the internet is via
a mobile phone or smartphone, and in 2018 89%
went online daily while using their phones; 37% of
all the children say that they are online on their
mobile ‘almost all the time’. The majority of
Lithuanian children use the internet for
entertainment and communication purposes. The
most common daily activities are watching videos
(72%), listening to music (71%), gaming online
(69%), visiting social networking sites (52%) or
communicating with friends and family (52%).
Lithuanian children are quite skilled in many online
activities: most of the 9- to 17-year-olds can remove
people from their contact lists (81%), they know
which information shouldn’t be shared online (79%)
and how to change privacy settings (70%). While
searching for new friends and contacts plays a big
role in children’s online communication, only 23%
added someone to their contacts they had never met
face-to-face. Even though 34% had had contact with
a stranger on the internet, they never met that
person face-to-face.
Children engage in various activities, and it is no
wonder that they could experience various risks –
16% reported that they had been treated in a hurtful
or nasty way online. Half of these children said that
they were receiving nasty messages. Twenty-one per
cent of the children had encountered harmful
websites, most often showing people harming or
hurting themselves. Lithuanian parents can still be
considered active mediators of their children’s
internet use and safety. Most of the parents (92%)
said that they gave advice on how to use the internet
safely, and 80% were interested in what their
children were doing online.
Highlights
Lithuanian children and their parents are active
internet users. Eighty per cent of parents are
interested in what their children are doing online, so
it seems that Lithuanian children are not left alone
and have parents who could help them. However,
only half of the parents help their children if the child
is facing something online that is causing them
anxiety. It might be that the parents don’t really
know what their children are actually facing online.
| 147 |
Malta (MT)
Malta EU Kids Online team
Mary Anne Lauri, Lorleen Farrugia, Mark Spiteri,
Stephen Camilleri, Dunstan Hamilton and Isaac
Sammut
Contact: University of Malta, Msida, Malta, MSD
2080, Malta, Email: [email protected]
Maltese national report:
Lauri, M.A. & Farrugia, L. (2019). Access, use, risks
and opportunities for Maltese children on the
internet. Msida: University of Malta.
Key findings
Smartphone use increases with age, with about half
of the younger children aged between 9 and 10
accessing the internet through a mobile phone. This
number increases to 9 out of every 10 children
between the ages of 15 and 16. For all participants,
the two most common online activities are watching
video clips (79%) and listening to music (72%).
One in every four children had received sexually
explicit messages and one in five received requests
of a sexual nature. Of those aged 15 to 16, 70% have
seen sexual content in the last year. Younger children
(24% of 9- to 10-year-olds and 34% of 11- to 12-
year-olds) were very upset by these images; 21% of
children aged between 9 and 16 did not speak to
anybody about an online experience that had
disturbed them. Friends (39%) and parents (42%)
were the main source of support in cases when they
did seek help. The percentage of children who did
nothing when facing such problems remains high,
with 33% ignoring the problem or hoping that it
would go away and 30% closing the website or app.
The belief that teachers care about children is well
above the average (74%). Despite a climate of trust
in classrooms, mediation by teachers is low and
remains restrictive rather than enabling; 43% of
participants said they had received rules about what
they were allowed to do on the internet at school,
while 45% said they had received advice on how to
use the internet safely.
Highlights
Eighty-nine per cent said that they use the internet
every day at home. Far fewer (5%) of 15- to 16-year-
olds use the internet at school. This may reflect less
openness to technology in the classroom. Internet
use at school is higher among students between the
ages of 9 and 10 (13%). Thirty-five per cent of
children aged 9 to 16 made contact with people
online they had never met offline. Around half of
these children met in real life the people they had
come to know online.
The small size of the country is possibly one reason
why so many children could meet up with somebody
they met online. The majority of those who decided
to meet these online acquaintances in real life were
happy to have done so; however, 6% were
uncomfortable with this.
Among risks related to privacy, 11% experience
people pretending to be them and 7% say that
somebody had created fake pages or images and
circulated them to damage their reputation. These
privacy risks are more common among adolescents
and may lead to widespread damage because of the
familiarity that characterises the local context.
| 148 |
Norway (NO)
Norwegian EU Kids Online team
Elisabeth Staksrud, Kjartan Ólafsson, Monica
Barbovschi, Niamh Ní Bhroin, Tijana Milosevic,
Ekaterina Pashevich, Khalid Ezat Azam and Jørgen
Kirksæther
Contact: Department of Media and Communication,
University of Oslo, PO Boks 1093, Blindern, 0317 Oslo
Email: [email protected]
Norwegian national report
Staksrud, E. & Ólafsson, K. (2019). Tilgang, bruk,
risiko og muligheter: Norske barn på Internett.
Resultater fra EU Kids Online Undersøkelsen i Norge
2018. EU Kids Online and the Department of Media
and Communication, Olso: University of Oslo,
bit.ly/2XuKcbV
Summary (in English): bit.ly/35a6HWe
Key findings
Most Norwegian children experience the internet as
a positive social environment and feel safe online.
Ninety-six per cent own their own mobile phone with
internet access. On average they use the internet for
a little less than 4 hours a day; 40% of 9- to 17-year-
olds say they have rules about how long or when they
are allowed to be online. This is interesting since we
know that over half of the Norwegian parents
generally express significant concern or worry about
the amount of time their children spend online – 54%
(70% of parents under the age of 40) say they worry
‘a lot’ that their child spends too much time on their
phone, and 49% say they worry ‘a lot’ that their child
is spending too much time playing video games.
Interestingly, we found that when controlling for
factors such as age, gender, socio-economic status,
emotional and peer problems, the amount of time
children spent online positively influences self-
reported wellbeing. Norwegian children are
understood to have a high risk of encountering sexual
messages – 32% of those aged 11 to 17 have
received such messages. Fewer of the younger group
have received one or more sexual messages during
the previous year (7% of 11- to 12-year-olds). At all
ages, girls are significantly more upset than boys on
receipt of sexual messages, although this decreases
with age.
Highlights
The use of mobile phones in schools is a controversial
topic in Norwegian public discourse. Our data shows
that where teachers are either positive towards or
allow mobile phone use at school, children
experience a higher degree of self-reported
wellbeing.
Too much focus on risk among researchers,
government authorities, politicians, parents and
teachers can have an alienating effect for children
who experience the internet as a positive social
arena. We need to think about how we can ensure
that those who experience risk get the help and
support they need, without detracting from the
positive experiences of internet use.
| 149 |
Poland (PL)
Polish EU Kids Online team
Jacek Pyżalski, Aldona Zdrodowska, Łukasz Tomczyk
and Katarzyna Abramczuk
Contact: Faculty Of Educational Studies, Adam
Mickiewicz University in Poznan, 60-568 Poznan,
Szamarzewskiego 89
Email: [email protected]
Polish national report
Pyżalski, J., Zdrodowska, A., Tomczyk, Ł. &
Abramczuk K. (2019) Polskie badania EU Kids Online
2018. Najważniejsze wyniki i wnioski. Poznań:
Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM,
www.academia.edu/38511454/Py%C5%BCalski_J._
Zdrodowska_A._Tomczyk_%C5%81._Abramczuk_K.
_2019_._Polskie_badanie_EU_Kids_Online_2018._N
ajwa%C5%BCniejsze_wyniki_i_wnioski._Pozna%C5
%84_Wydawnictwo_Naukowe_UAM
Key findings
Polish children aged 9 to 17 are mostly mobile
internet users. They usually connect to the internet
via a mobile phone or smartphone – about eight in
ten (84%) do this daily or more often. Interestingly,
girls turned out to use mobile internet more often
than boys. The internet is mostly used for
entertainment and peer communication.
Older students and girls use the internet more often
for learning and social engagement. At school the
internet is used for passive learning, e.g. more than
80% of the students never post the content on a
school discussion group or blog. Still, the internet is
involved more often in older students’ learning.
A minority of young people are exposed to serious
risks. For instance, about 14% of older students had
received sexual messages and 9% of the whole
sample had sent hurtful or nasty messages online.
Only about 7% of participants carried out
cyberbullying or hate speech. Unfortunately, the
percentage of passive recipients is higher, reaching
one-third.
Young people generally assess their online
competences critically – only about 60% highly
evaluate their ability to decide which content may be
published on the internet, and a third are totally sure
they can install mobile applications. About 12% admit
not being able to set privacy settings (e.g. on social
networking sites).
Highlights
Cyberbullying in Polish children overlaps with
traditional bullying where technologies are not used
(physical violence, verbal violence and exclusion). It
rarely happens that someone is a victim or a
perpetrator online without being involved in
traditional peer violence.
Using the internet moderately when it comes to time
online only slightly affects involvement in online risks.
Those using the internet for half an hour or less a
day experienced online risks almost as often as the
rest of the sample.
| 150 |
Portugal (PT)
Portuguese EU Kids Online team
Cristina Ponte, José Alberto Simões, Daniel Cardoso,
Eduarda Ferreira, Patrícia Dias, Rita Brito, Susana
Batista and Teresa Sofia Castro
Contact: FCSH, Universidade NOVA - Av. de Berna,
26-C, 1069-061 Lisboa, Portugal
Email: [email protected]
Portuguese national report
Ponte, C. & Batista, S. (2019). EU Kids Online
Portugal. Usos, competncias, riscos e mediaes da
internet reportados por crianas e jovens (9-17
anos). EU Kids Online and NOVA FCSH,
www.fcsh.unl.pt/eukidsonline/documentos/
Key findings
Gender differences matter in the way Portuguese
children deal with online risky situations, parental
mediation and incorporate new generations of smart
technology (IoT) in daily life. Engaging in online
activities, girls (27%) report more bothering online
experiences than boys (18%). Facing these
situations, girls request more support from peers and
adults they trust (parents, teachers) than boys, who
use more proactive and isolated answers. From the
33% of children that reported having seen sexual
content, almost half of the boys felt happy about it,
compared to 7% of the girls. Gender differences are
also visible in the way children report family practices
and supervision around online experiences.
A cluster analysis based on frequency of those
practices reveals that absence of family
communication and mutual support are mainly
reported by boys, while parental support and
regulation are more often reported by girls. Self-
perception of competence (where boys see
themselves more competent than girls) does not
translate into patterns of familial assistance (it is
usually girls who help out grown-ups).
Regarding pioneering adoption of the Internet of
Things, app-controllable toys, such as cars or robots
(25%), smart watches and Toys-to-Life (21%), are
the most popular among boys, while girls' favourites
are smart home appliances (10%). Overall, results
point to the replication of gendered stereotypes in
digital spaces, but also to autonomous mobilization
of technology by girls.
Highlights
Portuguese children report difficulties on choosing
the best keywords for online searches (67%), or to
verify whether online information is true (53%).
These lower rates may also reflect critical awareness
of the complexity of such competencies.
Informational skills are part of the national ICT
curriculum taught at schools, whose most reported
topics are related to online safety, e-etiquette and
copyright duties.
Taking advantage of opportunities for civic
engagement and for participation in public debates
are reported by only 15%. The ICT curriculum in
schools should take more account of the challenges
of the online and offline experiences of young people
regarding critical information search and evaluation
as well as civic engagement and participation.
| 151 |
Romania (RO)
Romanian EU Kids Online team
Anca Velicu, Monica Barbovschi, Bianca Balea and
Gyöngyvér Tőkés
Contact: Institute of Sociology, Romanian Academy,
Calea 13 Septembrie 13, Bucharest
Email: anca.velicu@gmail.com
Romanian national report
Velicu, A., Balea, B. & Barbovschi, M. (2019). Acces,
utilizări, riscuri și oportunități ale internetului pentru
copiii din România. Rezultatele EU Kids Online 2018.
EU Kids Online și DigiLiv-REI,
http://rokidsonline.net/wp/wp-
content/uploads/2019/01/EU-Kids-Online-RO-report-
15012019_DL.pdf
Key findings
Although internet access for Romanian children from
mobile devices has increased more than four times
since 2010 (reaching 84% in 2018), access
limitations remain due to economic factors such as
cost or poor infrastructure. Therefore, 65% of
children perceive the devices as too expensive, 37%
perceive the costs of connecting to the internet as
too high, while 25% report the internet signal as
being too weak or non-existent in the area in which
they live.
Self-reported negative online experiences of children
have increased (33% in 2018 vs 21% in 2010). The
highest increase can be found among 9- to 10-year-
olds (29%), which means earlier exposure to online
risks. Regarding cyberbullying, although boys report
having been victims more than girls, girls tend to be
twice as bothered as boys (53% vs 24%). A third said
they had witnessed someone being bullied online in
the past year (from 21% for 9- to 10-year-olds to
45% for 15- to 17-year-olds). Of those who noticed
online bullying, almost half tried to help the victim,
45% did nothing, while 7% encouraged the
aggressor. Sharing children’s personal data on the
internet without their consent is frequent in Romania
(for 28% of children’s parents and 17% of children’s
teachers). As a consequence, almost a third received
negative comments (boys more than girls, who were
more upset); they were also more likely to ask for the
content to be removed.
Highlights
A third of Romanian children have been exposed to
some form of cyberhate speech in the past year
(from a quarter for the 9- to 10-year-old group to half
for the 15- to 17-year-olds). Twelve per cent of all
children have themselves received hate messages
online, targeting them or their group (of these, half
received these messages monthly).
In a rather permissive attitude, almost half of the
children condone the use of violence against
someone who insults family or friends, reflected in
the data about cyberhate: of those exposed to
cyberhate, almost a quarter have intentionally
searched for this type of content (a worrisome 30%
in the 9- to 10-year-old group), while 8% of all
children reported they have sent these kinds of
messages themselves.
| 152 |
Russian Federation
(RU)
Russian EU Kids Online team
Galina Soldatova, Svetlana Chigarkova and Elena
Rasskazova
Contact: Lomonosov Moscow State University,
Moscow, 11/9 Mokhovaya, 125009, Russia
Email: [email protected],
Key findings
The average time using the internet by adolescents
aged 12 to 13 is 3.5 hours a day and by older
adolescents aged 14 to 17 it is 5 hours – 17% of
these older adolescents spend more than 8 hours
online every day, more than a third of their lives.
Parents’ user activity is lower: a third (35%) use the
internet for less than an hour a day, and the other
third (34%) use the internet for 2 to 3 hours a day.
One out of three 12- to 13-year-olds (34%) and one
out of two 14- to 17-year-olds (52%) have met at
least once in person someone they originally got to
know online. Among parents, only 15% know about
such meetings. In other words, the under-estimation
of adolescents meeting up with strangers they got to
know online is extremely high. Yet half of those aged
12 to 13 (57%) and the majority of those aged 14 to
17 (73%) said that these meetings evoked positive
rather than negative emotions.
Among online risks, risks relating to rude or
inappropriate communication was the most common:
85% of those aged 14 to 17 encounter at least one
of them, and among those aged 12 to 13 it is 71%.
More than half face cyberaggression. Exposure to
inappropriate or harmful content online – content
risks – are in second place (76% of those aged 14 to
17 and 54% of those aged 12 to 13). One out of three
adolescents encounters technical risks such as
password theft or computer viruses, spyware and
other programs that interfere with system
operations. Every fifth older adolescent faces
consumer risks – online fraud, cash theft or
unwanted cash spending. A fifth of adolescents show
signs of having excessive internet use problems.
Parents significantly under-estimate the experience
of adolescents in dealing with communication (17%)
and content (32%) risks, and over-estimate the
impact of consumer risks (29%). At the same time,
the majority of parents (75%) believe that they use
active safety mediation. However, adolescents’
scores are slightly lower; about half believe that their
parents use active safety mediation.
Highlights
Approximately 90% of adolescents use social
networks every day. Nasty or hurtful messages were
sent to 69% of those aged 14 to 17 and 58% of those
aged 12 to 13. Older adolescents admit that they
were the initiators of cyberaggression much more
often compared to younger children: 70% vs 37%.
Parents feel more competent in helping their
children: 83% feel that they can help their children
to cope with things online that bother or upset them,
and 67% monitor their children’s social media
profiles. Every second adolescent often helps their
parents when they have difficulties using the
internet.
| 153 |
The Republic of
Serbia (RS)
Serbian EU Kids Online team
Tijana Milošević, Dobrinka Kuzmanović, Zoran
Pavlović and Dragan Popadić
Contact: Institute of Psychology, Faculty of
Philosophy, University of Belgrade,: Čika Ljubina 18-
20. Belgrade, Serbia
Email: [email protected];
Serbian national report
Kuzmanović, D., Pavlović, Z., Popadić, D. & Milosevic,
T. (2019). Internet and digital technology use among
children and youth in Serbia. EU Kids Online Survey
Results, 2018, www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-
communications/assets/documents/research/eu-
kids-online/participant-countries/serbia/EU-Kids-
Online-ENG-2019.pdf
Key findings
Children in Serbia aged 9 to 17 most frequently use
smartphones to access the internet – 86% do so
daily, from 65% in the youngest group of 9- to 10-
year-olds. Underage use of social media and gaming
platforms is conspicuous: 41% of 9- to 10-year-olds
and 72% of 11- to 12-year-olds have a profile on
such platforms. Sixty per cent of children and young
people never use the internet for creative purposes,
such as to share content (videos or music) they
created on their own.
Serbian children assess their own digital skills as
above average (above the arithmetic mean). Older
children display greater confidence across the range
of digital skills except for programming (e.g. in
Scratch or Python), where younger children aged 11
and 12 feel more competent than older ones. This
may be due to the fact that children of this age have
a compulsory computer science subject at school.
Highlights
Additional analyses about excessive internet use
reveals that, when a range of children’s socio-
demographic characteristics are controlled for,
restrictive mediation is a significant predictor of time
spent online (parental restrictions reduce the time
spent online), but not of excessive internet use. The
main predictor of excessive internet use is the child’s
anxiety (emotional problems). Active mediation,
however, does reduce excessive internet use, but it
doesn’t affect time spent online. While there is a
significant correlation between the amount of time
spent online and excessive internet use, time spent
online should not be considered as a necessary or
sufficient condition for excessive internet use. We
therefore warn against pathologising screen time,
and emphasise the need to look into the broader
context of children’s internet use. The use of active
mediation among parents in Serbia is rather limited,
however. Only 40% of participants say their parents
or caregivers often suggest ways of how to use the
internet safely, and 39% say their parents often help
them when something bothers them online.
| 154 |
The Slovak Republic
(SK)
Slovak EU Kids Online team
Pavel Izrael, Juraj Holdos, David Smahel, Hana
Machackova, Lenka Dedkova & Robert Durka
Contact: Catholic Univesity, Hrabovska cesta 1a, 034
01, Ruzomberok, Slovak Republic
Email: [email protected]
Slovak national report
Izrael, P., Holdoš, J., Ďurka, R., Hasák, M. (2020).
EU Kids Online IV v Slovenskej republike. Slovenské
deti a dospievajúci na internete: Správa z výskumu.
Ružomberok: Katolícka univerzita v Ružomberku.
http://rodinaamedia.ku.sk/publikacie/
Key findings
Slovak children aged 9 to 17 access the internet
mostly via smartphones – 72% do so daily. The main
motive for using the internet is entertainment and
social interaction, and internet use increases during
the weekend. Fifty-six per cent of children aged 9 to
12 visit a social networking site at least once a week
despite the general age limit for such use at 13 years,
and only 20% of parents do not allow them to use a
social networking site.
In addition, parents of children of this age group
allow them to use instant messaging applications
without them having to ask for permission (62%).
Younger girls (aged 9 to 12) use social networking
sites more often than boys, while there is no such
gender difference in older children (aged 13 to 17).
At the same time, frequent use of social networking
sites in younger children is associated with a higher
risk of experiencing something that bothers or upsets
them.
As for other gender differences, it is girls rather than
boys who find people on the internet kind and
helpful, yet this attitude is not associated with
negative experiences online. There are no significant
gender differences regarding encountering harmful
content. Experience with face-to-face meeting with a
person only known from the internet (53%) is
associated with sensation-seeking and emotional
problems. After a face-to-face meeting with a person
only known from the internet, 53% of the children
reported feeling happy and 15% were upset.
Highlights
Altogether, 21% of children aged 11 to 17 saw
physical self-harm content, 10% saw suicide-related
content and 26% encountered content promoting
anorexia and bulimia. Exposure to harmful content is
associated with children’s emotional problems,
sensation-seeking, hyperactivity and conduct
problems. Exposure to one type of harmful content
also means exposure to other types. A little worrying
is the finding that when children are bothered or
upset by something online, 26% do not talk to
anyone, and this percentage increases with age.
Almost a fifth of parents think their child hasn’t had
contact on the internet with someone the child has
not met face-to-face before, although the child has
had such an experience. A significant number of
parents (40%) rarely or never apply active
mediation. On the other hand, the use of active
mediation is more frequent in families with a higher
income and parents with a higher education.
| 155 |
Spain (ES)
Spanish EU Kids Online team
Maialen Garmendia, Carmelo Garitaonandia,
Estefania Jiménez, Iñaki Karrera, Nekane Larrañaga
and Gemma Martinez
Contact: HEFA II, Plaza de Oñati 3, 20018, San
Sebastián, Spain
Email: [email protected]
Spanish national report
Garmendia, M., Jimenez, E., Karrera, I., Larrañaga,
N., Casado, M. A., Martinez, G. & Garitaonandia, C.
(2019). Actividades, mediación, oportunidades y
riesgos online de los menores en la era de la
convergencia mediática. 2019. Editado por el
Instituto Nacional de Ciberseguridad (INCIBE). León
(España). Project EU Kids Online IV – University of
the Basque Country (UPV/EHU),
www.is4k.es/sites/default/files/contenidos/informe-
eukidsonline-2018.pdf
Key findings
Spanish children’s engagement online with
communication and entertainment activities has
increased since 2015. Their preference for
communicating with family and friends (70%), and
leisure activities – such as listening to music (63%),
watching video clips (55%) and playing online (46%)
– on a daily basis stands out, whereas the evidence
shows lower interest in participatory and civic
activities.
While engaging in their everyday online activities,
33% of the children were bothered or upset online.
Social and instrumental skills are the most
widespread among Spanish children, whereas
informational and creative skills are a little less
common. This shows the need for improving school
mediation.
Even though Spanish children feel their school is a
place they belong to, with supportive teachers willing
to help them, teachers don’t really mediate their
online activities and tend to be more restrictive
(39%) than proactive (29%) when mediating the
students’ online activities. They also tend to set more
restrictions on teenagers (43%) rather than on pre-
teens (33%). Policy on digital literacy in primary and
secondary education focusing on safer internet use
and pedagogical change would definitely contribute
to developing children’s online skills.
Highlights
The number of teen girls who access content related
to ways of physically hurting themselves (6% vs 2%),
committing suicide (5% vs 1%), ways of being very
thin (4% vs 1%) and hate messages (12% vs 4%) is
significantly higher than among boys. Consequently,
teen girls have found themselves in situations on the
internet that have bothered them (40%) significantly
more often than boys (29%). Parents tend to
encourage boys more than girls to explore online,
while more often restricting activities for girls. These
findings, consistent with previous results, show their
worry especially for girls’ online safety.
| 156 |
Switzerland (CH)
Swiss EU Kids Online team
Martin Hermida
Contact: The Schwyz University of Teacher
Education, Zaystrasse 42, CH-6410 Goldau
Email: [email protected]
Swiss national report
Hermida, Martin (2019) EU Kids Online Schweiz.
Schweizer Kinder und Jugendliche im Internet:
Risiken und Chancen. Goldau: Pädagogische
Hochschule Schwyz,
www.eukidsonline.ch/files/Hermida-2019-EU-Kids-
Online.pdf
Key findings
Almost a third (30%) of Swiss 9- to 10-year-olds use
a mobile phone to go online at least several times a
week. From 13 years on most children (86%) report
being online via a mobile phone several times a day.
Risky online experiences are quite common. More
than half (64%) experienced at least one of the risks
inquired about, and among the oldest children (15 to
16 years), almost all (94%) have experienced one or
more risks. The most common is seeing problematic
user-generated content, reported by 26% of 11- to
12-year-olds and 64% of 15- to 16-year-olds. Still,
many children (29%) who had negative experiences
didn’t tell anyone.
Dealing with negative online experiences, most
children (36%) try to resolve the problem by blocking
another person – which indeed turns out to be the
most successful countermeasure.
Many children meet face-to-face with people they
met online, and many younger children already have
online social media profiles. While often depicted as
especially risky, most children associate these
activities with positive experiences. Meeting a
stranger is mostly something the children enjoyed.
And even younger children see social media as a
useful tool to find new friends. With the increasing
importance of digital media in children’s daily lives,
asking them to stay away from such activities seems
increasingly futile. It may be much more reasonable
to emphasise risk management over risk avoidance –
even for younger children. This may offer the best
protection while also allowing children to take full
advantage of the opportunities the internet offers.
Highlights
Contact with online risks is less an exception and
much more the rule. Older age, more skills and
owning a smartphone lead to more risky experiences.
Therefore, increasing exposure to risks turns out to
be a general side effect of growing up in a digital
world. This calls for a good balance between the
desire to avoid risks and the necessity to manage
risks.
