Nathalie Sonck

How The Internet Skills Of European 11- To 16-Year-Olds Mediate Between Online Risk And Harm

Not all children who use the internet will experience harm from the online risks they encounter. One of the factors that might moderate the relationship between risk and harm is childrens internet skills. As there has been little research on this topic, this article examines the influence of internet skills on the prevalence of online risks and the degree to which 11- to 16-year-olds experience being harmed by these risks, using data from the EU Kids Online project. The findings suggest that, whilst older children (aged 13–16) are exposed to more online risks, younger children (11–12) report more often being harmed by these risks. After controlling for differences between children due to demographics and internet experience, as well as country differences (using multilevel analysis), the findings reveal that children with more self-reported internet skills experience more risks online. Such skills do not seem to contribute much to differences in being harmed by online risks.

Safety by Literacy? Rethinking the Role of Digital Skills in Improving Online Safety

It is generally assumed that children can avoid negative consequences from using the Internet by acquiring and improving their digital skills. These skills are part of the broader concept of digital literacy. They encompass several types of skills or dimensions, ranging from basic skills to strategic skills, related to the technology of computers and the Internet, as well as to the use and evaluation of information online. Due to the current characteristics of interactive—Web 2.0—Internet use, digital skills also increasingly comprise social skills and the creative skills needed to produce and upload content to the Web. Some publications do not support the assumption that more skills mean fewer Internet risks. In fact they suggest precisely the opposite, namely that more skills are associated with more risks. The main questions addressed in this chapter are: To what extent do children acquire the skills needed to use the Internet safely? How do the different types of skills relate to online risk experience? How can children learn to master the skills needed to use the Internet safely? In this chapter, we focus particularly on the situation in the Netherlands, as this country ranks among the highest scorers for Internet penetration and use, both among the general public and among young people. High Internet access figures might implicitly suggest that children are also automatically highly skilled in using the Internet safely. In this chapter, we present some empirical findings about children’s mastery of the different dimensions of digital skills. We will then explore the relationship between skills and online safety, as well as the implications for children’s acquiring of digital literacy via peers, parents, schools, government and industry.