EU Kids Online

Results on Online Usage by Children in Europe

Everywhere in Europe, children and adolescents use online media, however, they do so on a different scale and under different circumstances. On national and international level, there are various evaluations and results available on the usage, opportunities and risks of online media.

In the project EU Kids Online, the available data on online usage of children were gathered and – against the backdrop of general cultural frameworks - evaluated by international comparison. Thereby countries could be differentiated into different types: it became evident, for example, that in countries with little online experience (e.g. Poland Czech Republic) as well as in countries where online media have been common for much longer (e.g. UK, Netherlands) a high risk of online usage is being observed.

The results of the three-year project, which were presented in London on 10 June, 2009, provide an overview on the available data situation as well as urgent need for research and action. One research gap will be closed with the follow-up project EU Kids Online II, in the course of which an internationally comparative and representative survey on the risks of online usage in over 20 countries is planned to be conducted. The Hans Bredow Institute coordinates the data analysis. Results will be available in 2011.