Six out of ten 9- to 18-year-olds have received commercial messages about online gambling and about five out of ten have received advertising for weight loss products. Five of ten parents consider they have enough information to guide their children in their Internet use, whereas three out of ten find it difficult to overview what the child is doing online. These are some of the results presented in the surveys Barn og medier 2020 [Children and media 2020] and Foreldre og medier 2020 [Parents and media 2020] conducted by the Norwegian Media Authority.
Children, 9- to 18-year-olds and parents with children aged 1 to 17 years old have participated in the survey. The results provide thorough knowledge for initiatives in safe and active media use.
Besides questions regarding access to different media technologies and use thereof, children and youth have responded to questions about apps they use, the kind of content they watch online and about their experiences from social media. Parents have responded to questions regarding parental mediation in media use as well as, e.g., their opinion in sharing photos of their child online.
When comparing results from the two surveys, differences in the replies from children and parents were sometimes notable. As an example, 23 per cent of the parents stated that the child was allowed a public profile in TikTok, whereas 44 per cent of the children said this was allowed by parents. About eight of ten parents reported having asked permission before sharing a photo of the child on social media, whereas a smaller share, five of ten children reported that this had been the case.
During 2020 nine thematic reports from the survey about media use among children and youth have been published. The first focused on social media and harmful content online. Other themes covered have been news consumption, advertising and commercial messages in social media and youths’ experiences of pornography online to name a few.
About the surveys: The Norwegian Media Authority has conducted surveys of media use among children and youth since 2006. The purpose of the two surveys is to give fact-based knowledge about everyday media use among children and youth. The knowledge base is used in designing advice and resources for parents and other adults in how to meet challenges related to young people and media and to make their experiences with media as positive as possible.
Two parallel surveys were thus conducted. About 3,400 children and youth aged 9 to 18 years old participated, and 2,000 parents of children aged 1 to 17 years old responded to questions regarding their children’s media use.
Data collection and elaboration was made by Sentio Research Norway in close cooperation with the Norwegian Media Authority. The Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Children and Families, the Ministry of Justice and Public Security and the Ministry of Education and Research are funding the surveys.
Catharina Bucht