David Smahel
David Smahel, Ph.D. is the Professor at the Institute of Children, Youth and Family Research, Masaryk University, the Czech Republic. He directs the Interdisciplinary Research Team on Internet and Society (IRTIS - irtis.fss.muni.cz) which researches social-psychological implications of the internet and technology. Current research focuses on adolescents’ and adults’ internet use, the online risks of children and adolescents, the construction of online identities and virtual relationships, and online addictive behavior. He is editor of Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace (www.cyberpsychology.eu) and has co-authored book Digital Youth: The Role of Media in Development (Springer, 2011).
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launched almost 10 years ago. The World Internet Project is made
up of many national reports written by different research teams in
recent years. We have also been able to deliver to the academic
community and society at large international reports that address
the comparative dimensions tapping cross-national and crosscultural similarities and differences in the uses of the Internet. But this is the first time the data gathered by the World Internet Project are published with the aim to develop new hypotheses regarding the role of the Internet in changing our lives and societies.
In the pages that follow, we will share with readers various insights on the role of the Internet in changing our societies,
economies and cultures. Contributions to this book come not just
from different countries but also from different scientific fields and different scientific cultures. In this introduction, we would like to offer a brief historical account on the development of WIP and walk readers through a roadmap of the ideas behind the organization as well as the content of the different chapters in this book.
This research focused on the following: what children perceive as being potentially negative or problematic while using the internet, what risks children are aware of when using the internet, what consequences online negative experiences might have, how children react to negative experiences, what children do to avoid or prevent these problematic experiences, and why children perceive certain situations as negative.
- Interviews and focus groups were used to collect children’s data. The main fieldwork, using the revised research procedures guide and the topic guide, was carried out from February to September 2013 in all nine countries, with children aged 9–16 (N = 378). Schools or youth centers were used to recruit children for 56 focus groups and 114 interviews.
- The term “children” refers to children aged 9–16. Internet usage refers to a variety of activities across various platforms, which can be accessed anywhere, alone, or with others.
Coping strategies are defined as responses (behaviours, but also emotions/cognitions) that are
successful (or unsuccessful) against cyberbullying. We differentiate between three different coping
domains: reducing risks, combatting the problem, and buffering negative impact. A systematic
literature search was conducted yielding 36 relevant papers. Most of these papers report findings
regarding general prevention strategies (e.g. anti-bullying policies or cybersafety strategies) and the
use of coping strategies such as seeking support, reactions towards cyberbullies (retaliation or
confronting), technical solutions and avoidant and emotion-focused strategies. A few studies report on
perceived success whereas only a very few studies measure the success of the strategies in relation to
cyberbullying, its risks and outcomes. In sum, although there are a number of studies investigating the
use of coping strategies, there is a clear lack of evidence concerning the question on what are
successful coping strategies. Based on the current lack of sound empirical data, the report suggests
future research strategies.
The new report, EU Kids Online 2020: Survey results from 19 countries, maps the risks and opportunities of the internet for children in Europe. Among many other findings, the survey shows that the time children now spend online varies between about two hours per day (Switzerland) and three-and-a-half hours (Norway).
But while the time that children spend online each day has almost doubled in some countries, compared with 2010, many have yet to receive any online safety advice from parents, teachers or friends. However, when children have a negative experience online, they mostly speak to parents or friends, and only rarely tell teachers or professionals whose job it is to actually help them.
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.