Eesti, Suurbritannia, Saksamaa ja Soome 9–16aastaste laste ja nende vanemate arusaamad online-riskidest (EU Kids Online küsitluse lahtiste vastuste põhjal)

Abstract

Estonian, British, German and Finnish 9-16 year-old children‟s and their parents‟ opinions on online risks (based on open-ended questions in EU Kids Online survey). Keywords: Internet risks, online risks, children and Internet The main objective of this bachelor thesis was to identify 9-16 year-old children‟s and their parents' perceptions about online risks in Estonia, Finland, Germany and Great Britain. The theoretical and empirical part of this study gives an overview of children and the information society, children‟s Internet usage, presents the classification of online risks and how children can be affected by it, Internet use and parents‟ strategies in mediating their children‟s use of the Internet. Also there is a topic about comparing countries and their online risks factors. For this paper, there were used EU Kids Online II open-ended responses, which were unanalyzed, and in its original language. In order to gather empirical data on above mentioned matter, there was used quantitative content analysis. The sample was 1000 Estonia‟s, Finland‟s, Germany‟s and Great Britain‟s 9–16 year-old children and one of their parents. Thesis examined mainly: Research question no 1. How large proportion of children and their parents, perceived online risks presence, being able to spontaneously mention in the interview? The study showed, that children responded more often to open-ended questions than their parents. Thus, it could be argued, that Estonian, British, German and Finnish children perceive online risks presence more than their parents. Research question no 2. What kind of risks did children and their parents mention spontaneously more, frequently than other risks? Estonian 9-16 year-old children's opinions on online risks were typologically sexual and mostly about pornographic content. Finnish children's opinions on online risks were typologically sexual and mostly about sexual content which is on the Internet. British children's opinions on online risks were mostly typologically aggressive and mostly about insulting or discriminating messages. German children‟s opinions on online risks were typologically aggressive and mostly concerned about violent content that can be transmitted by Internet. Estonian, British, German and Finnish parents' opinions on online risks were typologically aggressive. Research question no 3. What are the relationships between children‟s perceptions of online risks and their gender? It could be argued, that commercial risks were more common among boys than in girls answers. At the same time girls mentioned sexual risks more often than boys. Thus, it could be argued that girls perceive typologically more sexual and boys commercial risks. Research question no 4. What are the relations between children's age and the perceptions of online risks? The study showed that the perception of online risks changed with age. For example, it was observed, that the older the child was, the fewer he/she named aggressive online risks.