Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a transition to online services in almost all aspects of life. Today, online access is an important aspect of child well-being more than ever. The aim of the study was to investigate online activities and gender differences of children with a special focus on harmful online content, cyberbullying, and Internet addiction. Our research was conducted among students from one Croatian county (average age = 14.97, N = 494). The Internet Addiction Test, the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire, as well as questions constructed for the purposes of this research (e.g., online contents) were used. Between 20% and 30% of students spend four or more hours a day online. Furthermore, 14.57% of students showed moderate signs of addiction, and 1.42% already showed severe signs of addiction, where girls had significantly higher results. The results indicated that 12.75% of students were victims, 5.87% were perpetrators, and 8.3% were, at the same time, committing and experiencing cyberbullying. Children who commit and/or experience cyberbullying achieve higher results on the scale of Internet addiction than children who do not participate in cyberbullying. These findings contribute to our understanding of Internet usage and especially its problematic aspect in such a complex time as the COVID-19 pandemic, and they can be useful for planning future interventions with children.
Highlights
More than 80% of young people in Europe use social networks and spend an increasing amount of their time consuming digital media [1,2,3,4,5]
Children who commit and/or experience cyberbullying achieve higher results on the scale of Internet addiction than children who do not participate in cyberbullying. These findings contribute to our understanding of Internet usage and especially its problematic aspect in such a complex time as the COVID-19 pandemic, and they can be useful for planning future interventions with children
The purpose of this study was to clarify the problematic use of the Internet among girls and boys in one Croatian county during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the significance of this study is reflected in the possibilities of implementation of findings in targeted, well-designed, and gender-specific prevention programs, which represent an important contribution to the field of problematic Internet usage during the pandemic in Croatia
Summary
More than 80% of young people in Europe use social networks and spend an increasing amount of their time consuming digital media [1,2,3,4,5]. The research continuously confirmed that screen usage increases with the age of the child [6,7,8], but the COVID-19 pandemic has changed our digital habits [9]. We must not neglect the many benefits of an online environment where children, among others, meet a variety of educational needs through modern technologies. Online platforms as well as social networks offer a number of forms of content that can serve a variety of educational activities and that can enable communication in groups for structured leisure activities. Through the Internet, children can satisfy their information and educational needs, which have come into particular focus with the transition to e-learning during the introduction of epidemiological measures
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