Peer-reviewed article
Lithuanian children on the internet: A comparison of the use of internet in 2010 and 2018
Neringa Grigutytė, Saulė Raižienė, Vilmantė Pakalniškienė, Robertas Povilaitis ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study compared internet use and online safety among Lithuanian children aged 9-17 in 2010 and 2018. Children's daily internet use increased from approximately 3-4 hours to 4-5 hours, with greater use of social networks, video watching, and picture sharing. While children were less likely to share personal information and communicate with strangers in 2018, they experienced more online abuse and had more access to sexual content. Parents became more engaged in discussing safety and showing interest in children's online activities, though they spent less time physically present during internet use.
Key points
- Children's daily internet use increased by approximately one hour between 2010 and 2018, reaching 4-5 hours per day
- In 2018, children were less likely to share personal information and communicate with strangers compared to 2010
- Children experienced more online abusive behavior and had greater access to sexual content in 2018 than in 2010
- Parents reported fewer technical threats and negative experiences regarding their children's internet use in 2018
- Parent engagement in discussing online safety and showing interest in children's activities increased, though co-presence during internet use decreased
Limitations
The study is descriptive and comparative only, examining correlations between time periods without establishing causation or investigating the mechanisms behind observed changes. The document does not provide detailed information about the severity of online abuse experienced, the types of sexual content accessed, or parental interventions' effectiveness.
Abstract
The accessibility of the internet and the availability of online services in Lithuania are steadily increasing; the demand for some services is almost twice the EU average and is growing every year. In the context of Europe, Lithuania is among the countries with high internet use, which increases the risk and threat to children through the internet. In a study conducted by the EU Kids Online II in 2010, it was found that Lithuanian children lack the skills of safe use of internet, while parents lack the knowledge and ability to ensure the safe use of internet by their children. The purpose of this article is to identify how children’s threats and the involvement of parents in ensuring the safe use of internet by their children are changing as the access to information technology and the internet grows. During a survey conducted in 2018, 1 012 children aged 9 to 17 years and one of each of their parents were interviewed. These data were compared to the data from 2010 survey, when 1 004 online users aged 9 to 16 years and one of each of their parents were interviewed. The results revealed that in 2018, children and their parents spend more time on the internet. Children spend 4–5 hours on the internet every day and it is approximately one hour longer than in 2010. Children use a variety of devices to connect to the internet and use the internet to perform various activities, especially the sharing of pictures, watching videos and playing games on the internet, and more often use social networks sites. The most popular social network is Facebook. In the current year, children are less likely to share their personal information, communicate less with strangers, but children experience more abusive behavior from others online and have more access to sexual content in 2018 than in previous years. Parents report less negative experience and technical threats, such as the use of a child’s personal information or device infection with a virus, regarding their children spending their time on the internet. The data suggests that parents nowadays seldom are in the same room with the child while he/she is on the internet, but parents talk with children on safety issues, encourage them and are interested in their activities on the internet more often than in previous years.