| SURVEY |
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| AUSTRIA |
Federal Ministry for Social Security, Generations and Consumer Protection, 2005 Schriftenreihe Jugendpolitik: Medien und Technologie A study about the role of technology and media in the life of young people including quantitative and qualitative data. Topics: equipment, use, motives for media and Internet use, gender aspects, gaming. Language: DE |
Gender Gap:
82% of the boys (14-19 years) live in a household with a PC, 47% have their own computer.
76% of the girls? (14-19 years) live in a household with a PC, but only 33% have their own computer.
Male gamers prefer “action/shooter”, “strategy”, and “sport” games.Female gamers prefer parlour games and quick games in between other activities.
49% percent of the girls use chat rooms on the internet on a regular basis, in comparison to 41% of the boys. |
Federal Ministry for Social Security, Generations and Consumer Protection, 2005 Schriftenreihe Jugendpolitik: InformationsgesellschaftA qualitative study about the life of youths in the information society. Topics: impacts on youths’ identities and cultures, information literacy, gaming. Language: DE |
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Equipment of Austrian households (2005):
TV: 95 %
Mobile Phone: 88%
Computer: 63%
Internet: 47%
Most popular online shopping products:
-books, magazines, newspapers
-clothes, sports goods
-travelling |
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8 out of 10 Belgian youngsters own a mobile phone today: an increasing trend especially among children over 13. Most mobile phones are a gift from parents, in most cases with a pre-paid account which is usually paid by the parents.
Many companies offer websites to young consumers with content that isn't adapted to their critical capacities. The internet is pre-eminently an interactive and manipulating medium and the vulnerability of young consumers if often exploited (for instance in viral marketing). Young people should get more and better protection against such practices.
Internet is an attractive medium to promote brands, goods and services to young people because it corresponds to their values, the way they communicate, their preference for 'alternative' sources of information. |
| CZECH REPUBLIC
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Gemius S.A., 2006 Child safety on the internet Bezpecnost detí na internetu The Czech Awareness node (www.saferinternet.cz) recently completed the online survey focused on internet habits of Czech children. The research was conducted by research agency Gemius S.A. To obtain comparable data to a similar recent Polish survey, the same questionnaire was used with the kind permission of Nobody’s Children Foundation. The methodology applied and the target groups (internet users aged 12-17) focused on were similar in the two countries, the Czech Republic and Poland. Language: CZ and EN |
The awareness of internet threats is low in the Czech Republic. The great majority of children surveyed agree that online disclosure of personal information to strangers is dangerous (74%), whereas only 49% consider meeting a person on the internet as definitely dangerous or rather dangerous. Only 63% of them have ever heard or read about dangers related to making new contacts through the internet.
66% of Czech children receive invitations by unknown internet users through chat sites or other instant messenging systems. Almost 2 out of 3 such proposals were followed by a meeting. 70% of children went to the meeting alone. More than 20% of them did not inform anybody about going to a meeting.
More than 50% of respondents have met older persons via the internet, in 10% of cases, a person more than 10 years older than themselves.
Parents are "unaware"- they are usually not informed about these rendez-vous. Probably they have low authority in internet related issues. Parents claim that they talk to their children about possible dangers of the internet. They are nevertheless not very likely to be a very efficient means for communicating the message: "making new contacts over the internet is dangerous”. No wonder: 22% of Czech parents do not think that the internet can be dangerous for children. |
| CYPRUS
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For 2006 the percentage of households that have a computer is 51,9% (46,4% in 2005). The percentage of individuals of age of 16-74 years that has used a computer during the first quarter 2006 is 40,9%, (same for 2005 at 40,9%). The percentage of individuals that has used Internet increased as well compared to 2005 (from 31,1% in 2005 to 33,8% in 2006).
The percentage of individuals ordering products and services via internet kept increasing (from 5,1% in 2005 to 6,7% in 2006). These individuals order mainly books, magazines, newspapers and travel.
The mobile phone is widely spread in households, with percentage 84,9% for 2005. There is however, a noteworthy increase in the percentage of households with access to internet enabled mobile phones - from 29,4% in 2004 to 42,3% in 2005.
The main purpose of internet usage is sending or receiving e-mails and finding information about goods and services. |
| DENMARK
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Danish parents have a balanced view on the advantages and risks of their children’s use of computer games. They are attentive to the different types of games their children play.
Surveyed parents claim they control their children’s use of online games. 59% say they observe their children while they are playing. 51% say they talk to their children about the games. 36% say they play the games with their children. |
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A young Danish boy about his visits to net cafés:"…it’s just cool to be sitting there together and ehm sitting and playing computer, the atmosphere in the net cafe … and you just sit there together and play. You talk with each other without really talking. You are just being together (laughs)…."
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Gitte Stald, University of Copenhagen, 2005 Mobile Media –Mobile Young People A study on the use of mobile phones by Danish young people between 15-24 years of age. Language: DK |
A young Danish girl about her use of SMS: "Well, it’s to…it’s just to keep in contact and just to sort of pat each other on the shoulder and say that you are still there". |
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97.6% of the children in the survey are internet users and 79.1% consider themselves as competent users. However, most of the children use the internet at home and not in school – 20% say they never use it or rarely use it at school and, when they use it, it is primarily for school work. |
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Whether the young people create new friendships or sustain already existing ones they do not distinguish between online and offline. There is not a huge gap between the world they have on Arto and the world outside Arto. The web page is just one part of their every day life, and what they talk about is very close to their non virtual reality. |
| FINLAND
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TUNNE project, 2007 Survey: Parents are only just awakening to internet safety awareness Parents know already about the possibilities and risks of internet, but many of them don’t know how to guide their children to be netsmart. Timelimits and advice on protecting personal information are the most common means of guiding children in Finnish families with children from 10 to 16 years old. The aim of the survey was to gain knowledge of parents’ Internet safety awareness as well as their awareness of their children’s Internet usage. Slightly over 1,000 parents took part in the survey. The survey was conducted by the Finnish awareness node TUNNE. Language: FI |
Finnish parents know at least by name instant messengers like MSN (89%) and Skype (67%) as well as social networking sites like IRC-Galleria (75%) and Habbo (74 %).
Approximately every fifth Finnish parent has used instant messengers themselves, but only a few percents of the parents have used social networking sites.
Slightly over 10% of Finnish parents report that their children have been bullied online.
60% of Finnish parents are concerned about unwanted contacts online.
82% of Finnish parents have discussed with their children about what kind of personal information should be given online.
46% of Finnish parents have observed their children’s Internet usage by looking at browser history.
61% of Finnish parents report that their home rules of Internet usage are based on time limits.
24% of Finnish parents think that there is no need for restrictioning their children’s internet usage. |
TUNNE project, 2006 Joys and drawbacks of social networking sites The majority of Finnish adolescents use social networking sites as a regular part of their daily life. The TUNNE project carried out a wide-ranging inquiry of adolescents’ experiences on the three most favoured social networking sites in Finland (irc-galleria.net, ii2.org, kuvake.net). Slightly over 11,000 youngsters responded. Language: FI ( summary available in EN) |
74% of Finnish social networking sites users visit the sites daily.
88% of Finnish social networking sites users use the sites mostly for communicating with their friends.
Half of Finnish social networking sites users have made new friends through those sites.
Every tenth Finnish social networking sites user has found a girl- or boyfriend from those sites.
Almost a third of Finnish social networking sites users have received disturbing sexual comments.
One fourth of Finnish social networking sites users say that their parents have seen their profiles and know their nicknames. |
| GERMANY
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If German adolescents had to decide for a medium, 26% would choose the computer and 19% respectively television and internet.
98% of all German adolescents have access to a computer at home, 92% to internet.
60% of German adolescents own a computer, 38% have internet access in their room.
More than two thirds (69%) of all German adolescents use the internet several times a week or more.
According to German adolescents, 60% of their time spent online is used for communication, 23% for information research and 17% for online games.
90% of German adolescents watch television at least several times a week, 83% use the computer at least several times a week.
Four out of ten German chatroom users have had phone contact with chat acquaintances, 25% have personally met people they had gotten to know online. Out of these, 12% had had bad experience with personal meetings.
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83% of German households in which children grow up have a computer, 12% of the children have their own computer.
63% of German children use a computer at least once a week.
Computers are used by German children most frequently for games – 63% play on their own, 50% together with others. 49% work with computers for school.
41% of German children regularly use the internet.
Compared to the KIM study 2003, more German parents (2003: 45%, 2005: 53%) are interested in what their children do on the computer, also more children report that their parents often spend time with them on the computer (2003: 14%, 2005: 18%).
70% of German children are allowed to do only certain things on the computer, 26% may mostly do whatever they want.
Of those using the internet, 49% use websites for children, 47% search for information for school. 45% use e-mails, 44% look for other information.
Most German parents see the internet as a dangerous medium for children, which they should only use when protected by a filter software.
24% of German parents whose children use the internet at home have filter programmes installed, 17% do not know if there is any filter software installed. |
TNS Infratest/Initiative D21 (ed.), 2006 (N)ONLINER Atlas 2006 The focus of the study are figures of internet use in Germany, broken down e.g. by federal states, age, gender, income and education. Language:DE |
58.2% of the German population over 14 years use the internet, 35.7% do not use it and do also not intend to start using it.
There are regional differences in internet use – in Berlin, 64.4% of the inhabitants use the internet, in Saarland only 49%.
Among young people, the proportion of internet users is significantly higher than among older people – the younger the people, the more internet use.
65.4% of the German male population use the internet, among the female population the quota is 51.5%.
Of the German internet users, in 2006 47.5% have broad-band access (2005: 40.1%).
Almost 90% (87.4%) of German internet users use antivirus software, 78.1% have a firewall installed. Nearly two thirds have already had a virus on their computer. |
ARD/ZDF-Medienkommission (ed.), 2006 ARD/ZDF Online Studie 2006 Yearly study on the development of the internet in the German population over 14 years. Language: DE |
The internet is more and more an allround medium, providing text, audio and video sources and also all kinds of information and communication tools. Nevertheless, on the users’ side, it has not yet been integrated as universal medium in everyday life.
There is a significant proportion of German internet users who just use the internet from time to time for checking e-mails or specific information. For the expansion rate of internet use in Germany, the highest numbers are among people over 50 on the one hand and among women on the other hand.
About one third (34%) of German internet users has heard about podcasts, but only 6% have already had experience with them; 3% use podcasts at least once a week.
About 7% of German internet users state that they have already visited a weblog.
85% of German internet users fear that their personal data is not safe on the internet (14-39 year-olds: 77%; over 50-year-olds: 81%). |
| GREECE
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e-business forum, Ministry of Development, Information Society, 2006 EDET Study 2005 about the new technologies and the information society Yearly survey of the National Network of Research and Technology (EDET) on Internet and mobile use in Greece. Sample: 2741 persons from all around Greece, over 15 years of age. Period of survey, published in 2006: 21/10 – 23/11/2005 Language: EL |
27.3% of the Greek population uses a PC. This percentage increases to 65.6% for the ages 15 -17, and 59.5% for the ages 18 -24. It decreases to 1.2% in the 65 years + age group.
19.5% of the population surfs the internet. The percentage reaches 24.6% for ages 15 to 65.
The main reasons for not using the internet are: “I am not interested (66.3%)”, “I don’t find it necessary (53.6%)”.
On the other hand, the use of mobile phones continued to undergo a constant increase, with 73.1% of the Greek population using mobiles in 2005. The percentage reaches 95.9% for ages 15 to 17, and 98.3% for the 18 to 24 age bracket.
On internet usage, email is still leading with 21.2%, followed by information search (17.6%), and generally looking for news (15.2%).
In regards e-commerce, 20% of the persons asked said that they conducted at least one commmercial transaction over the internet in 2005. 44.6% of the persons who conducted such a transaction visited the physically existing shop first, before bying online.
88.6% of the persons that responded said they didn’t intend to buy anything online within the next semester. Main reasons: 34.7% don’t trust the payment systems. 25.4% want to see and touch the goods before buying. 24.5% don’t feel the need to buy goods online. |
Mediappro, 2006 The appropriation of new media by youth Survey of the MediAppro Project to explore how young people between the ages of 12-18, appropriate digital media, including networks and portable media, such as the internet, mobile phones and video games in 9 countries, including Greece: 7.393 questionnaires (+/- 900 per country) with 63 questions +/- 25 interviews per country, concerning how young people build their opinion about the Internet and other new networked media Language: EN |
Greek adolescents use the internet mainly for entertainment.
The age and gender play a major role in the way the internet and other digital media are used.
Pupils, parents and teachers seem not to be aware of the potential internet dangers.
The internet is not commonly used in schools.
Pupils like to use their mobile phones more than the internet, because it secures their privacy.
Parents are absent from all technological events and don’t guide their kids nor do they interfere in the way their kids use the internet, mobile phones or electronic games.
Parents’ interest focuses on the costs of internet and/or mobile phone use, since they are the ones who "pay the bill". |
| IRELAND
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National Centre for Technology in Education, 2006 2006 Webwise Survey of Children’s Online Behaviour The National Centre for Technology in Education has carried out a large-scale survey of children’s use of the internet in order to identify their online risk behaviour. 848 students between the ages of 9 and 16 in over 21 schools across the country completed questionnaires containing over 100 questions on their use of the internet. The findings from this survey will inform the development of internet safety information, advice and tools by the Webwise Internet Safety in the coming years. Language: EN |
A quarter of the children surveyed said they used the internet at home everyday. One in ten use instant messaging (MSN, ICQ, Google Chat, Skype etc.) at home everyday or almost everyday. More than half are using the Internet at school more than once a week.
Many children are finding new friends on the internet and other sources of support which are positive. One in fifteen of the children surveyed had met in real life someone that they first met on the Internet. This marks an increase from one in twenty-two in 2003. The majority of children said that they had a really good time during these meetings. In fact, in all cases where children met other children they reported positive or neutral experiences.
However, 11% of the 9 to 16-year-olds surveyed who met up with someone that they first met online said that the other person tried to physically hurt them. Worryingly, in all the cases of physical and verbal abuse reported in the survey the children said that the person who introduced themselves to them on the Internet as a child, turned out to be an adult. It seems clear that there are individuals who will use online services to make contact with children in order to exploit them. The NCTE has stated that effective age verification and moderation strategies could be implemented by online services that allow young people to meet and communicate with others online in order to make them safer.
Other Key Findings:
-97.8% children aged between 9-16 years surveyed in Ireland have used a PC or computer; this is slight increase from 95% in 2003.
-91% have a PC at home. 43% of personal computers in the home are located in a public room, 33% are in bedrooms.
-90% of the children with a PC at home stated that they have an Internet connection at home; this is an increase from 80% in 2003. 21% said they had internet access through a personal device such as a mobile phone or games console.
-24% of those using the Internet use it almost every day at home. 52% are using it at least once a week at school.
-Over 50% said that their parents spoke with them very rarely or not at all about what they did on the internet.
-27% said they met someone new on the Internet who asked for information like their photo, phone number, street address, or the school you attend. This is an increase from 19% in 2003.
-The survey shows a small increase in the number of children that have visited hateful websites, 22% in 2003 to 26% in 2006. Boys were three times more likely than girls to have visited hate sites a lot.
-The results show stability in the numbers of children that have visited pornographic websites at 35%.
-23% have received unwanted sexual comments on the Internet. Boys are twice as likely as girls to receive them a lot.
-Half of the teenagers questioned said they had chatted on the Internet. Only a quarter of the preteens have ever chatted.
-A quarter of those who chat online use instant messaging everyday or almost everyday. 19% of those who chat said they had been harassed, upset, bothered, threatened or embarrassed by someone when chatting on-line.
-7% have met someone in real life that they first met on the Internet. 24% of these said that someone who introduced themselves to them as a child on the Internet turned out to be an adult. |
| ITALY
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ISTAT (National Istitute of Statistics), 2006 Communication and information technologies: availability and use in Italian families A survey of availability and individual use (at home, school, work…) of communication and information technologies by Italian families. The survey was conducted on a sample of 19,000 families, representing a total of 49,000 people. Language: IT |
TV (93,9%), mobile (82,3%) and video recorder (63%) are the widespreadest goods in Italian families. DVD player (50,7%), personal computer (46,1%) and internet access (35,6%) follow. From 2005 the technological gap between the North and the South of Italy has slightly decreased thanks to the wider increases of ICT ownership in the South of Italy. Particularly, the gap is reduced concerning the ownership of PCs (from more of 11% in 2005 to 8% in 2006) and the internet access.
Differences regarding some relevant goods, such as the broad band connection and the digital decoder, remain unchanged (about 5 %). Considering the percentage of households including at least one member aged 16-64 accessing the internet at home (40%), Italy comes out disadvantaged compared to many European States, remaining below the European media levels of diffusion (52%). About 54% of households don’t own a personal computer and 64,4% don’t access the internet at home. The maximum level of PC use is recorded in the age group 11-19 (over 75%) and the maximum internet use amongst youths aged 15-24 (over 67%).
People aged over 6 accessing the internet in the last 3 months used the web above all to communicate by e-mail (76,4%) and to search for information (about 60-65%). The activities on the internet are strictly age-specific. Amongst 20- 44 years olds, over 80% of users use the internet to send and receive e-mail. Chat is prevailing among people aged 15-24 (over 43%). Online games and downloading of games, images and MP3 is widespread within young people aged 6-19 (over 60%). About 20% of people over 6 surfing the internet in the last 12 months used the web to order and/or buy goods and services. NB: a higher use was recorded by males (24,8%), young people between 25-34 (27,3%) and citizens of the Central and the Northern Italian regions. |
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91% of respondents, out of which 42% are "frequent users", declare using chat services or participate in fora at least once a week (25%), whereas 9% has a blog where personal thoughts are expressed.
Besides using search engines (84% of the surfers does it at least once a week), sending or receiving e-mails (66% at least once a week) or finding documents useful for study or work (27%), new ways of using the internet are rapidly spreading. Young people perceive themselves as key actors in the development of contents to be exchanged: participation and sharing therefore become the new “keywords”. 38% of the surfers had used the internet at least once to chat, participate to blogs, fora, and 15% to upload personal thoughts, poems, feelings to their personal pages.
They share thoughts as well as files: 16% of the surfers uploaded, at least once, personal photos on sites shared with friends (25% of the “usual surfers”) and 42% of the surfers states to have downloaded at least one file in the last year through a file sharing programme without paying. 50% of young Italian declares to be concerned with copyright issues, even if they deliberately do not respect the rules (while the other half is not concerned at all). |
| LITHUANIA
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According to survey ordered by CRA, Internet users are paying much more attention to using computer safety tools. Most popular tool for users is antivirus programs, which is used by 86 per cent of people participating in the survey. More than 32% constantly renew their software and operating systems. In 2006 use of firewalls increased as well: 19% of users noted that they are using one. Same percentage is making backup copies of their important data.
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Most of Lithuanian Internet users are young people. According to survey conducted by TNS Gallup 44.2% of Internet users were of 15-24 age. 25-34 years – 19.3%. Traditionally less Internet users were among older people: 10.2% were in age group of 45-54 and only 5.7% in 55-74. |
Gemius Baltic, gemiusAudience, 2006 Gender gap of Internet is closing in Lithuania, 2006 The gemiusAudience Internet research gave an opportunity to evaluate changes concerning the Lithuanian internet audience in the period December 2005 to June 2006. In June 2006 there was a relative balance in terms of the number of female and male users. Women represented 50.2% of users versus 49.8% of male users. It is vital to mention, however, that the proportion of male and female visitors was totally different in December 2005. Language: LT |
Newest research by gemiusAudience shows that gender gap of internet usage in Lithuania is decreasing. In 2005, 47.3% females and 52.7% males were internet users and, in June 2006, 50.2% were female and 49.8% male. Male users spent an average of 10 hours and 33 minutes on the internet whereas females spent 11 hours and 22 mins. |
| POLAND
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Gemius S.A for Nobody’s Children Foundation, 2006 Analysis of the dangers of meeting new friends online among children, aged 12 – 17 A study on internet usage habits of children aged 12-17: behaviours associated with online fiends, level of awareness of threats related to making friends online, recollection of online campaigns. Moreover, parents' level of awareness of threats related to children’s internet use is examined. Language: PL |
The vast majority (64.0%) of surveyed children make friends online. A significant number of them disclose private information, mainly their e-mail address (77.9%) and photo (58.4%).
Compared to 2004 figures, the number of respondents who meet offline with online friends increased. 7.9% of respondents aged 12 - 17 meet in the real world with online friends. In 2004 this number was 3.1%.
Among those who meet offline with online friends, every fifth person (21.9%) doesn’t inform anybody about the meeting. When the respondents inform someone, it is a friend or a sibling, very rarely (23.6%) an adult or a parent.
The main reason for not informing anyone about the meeting is: "It is only my business with who I meet". 27.3% of young respondents feared that parents wouldn't allow them to go.
Nearly 90.9% declared having heard or read about risks related to making friends online, only 5.5% of children answering the survey admitted to never having heard about it.
The majority of parents (81.4%) declare that they have talked to their children about safe use of the internet. Every fifth parent (18.6%) has never mentioned this topic to a child.
Out of the parents who stated that their children meet offline with online acquaintances, 55.6% admitted that children don’t tell them about such meetings, whereas 26.7% were convinced that they would always know about such meetings. |
| SPAIN
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Asociación Protégeles, 2005 Child safety and children’s internet habits The characteristics of the study are detailed in its first pages. For its completion, 4,000 10-17 year-old minors of both sexes were surveyed at educational institutions, cyber-centres, children meetings, on the street and through internet pages suitable for children.
Language: ES |
One out of three children using the internet has information searching as his/her main objective. Most (66%) consider the internet to be an entertainment tool: 36% of them use it for online chatting, 17% for playing online games and 13% to look for and download music. |
Asociación Protégeles, 2005 Child Safety and mobile use habits The results of this study only concern children using a mobile phone and not the totality of Spanish children. The characteristics of the study are detailed in its first pages. For the completion of the survey, 2,000 11-17 year-old minors of both sexes were surveyed. Language: ES |
19% of children answering the survey admit to having sent threatening or harmful messages that weren’t meant to be a joke. |
Asociación Protégeles, 2005 Anorexia and bulimia prevention on the internet Since PROTEGELES launched its first Campaign against Anorexia and Bulimia on the internet in June 2004, till the launch of the second one in May 2005, PROTEGELES had assisted more than 200 girls representing different phases of an eating disorder related illness. Currently, PROTEGELES is assisting more than 500. Language: ES |
Asociación Protégeles, 2005 Child Safety and cyber-centres The characteristics of the study are detailed in its first pages. For its completion, 1,000 11-17 year-old minors of both sexes were surveyed at educational institutions or in cyber-centres. Language: ES |
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Parents' awareness and tolerance towards videogames:
38% of children say that if their parents knew the content of their videogames, they wouldn’t allow them to play. Sex differences are striking: half of the boys (49%) admit it compared to just 27% of the girls. |
