Credit: SNJ

On 8 February 2022, Luxembourg's National Youth Service (SNJ, Service National de la Jeunesse), coordinator of the BEE SECURE government initiative, published the first report on current trends in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) by young people in the Grand Duchy.

The report was presented on World Safer Internet Day, which this year takes place under the slogan "Together for a better Internet".

In order to be able to follow developments in the use of ICT and the risks associated with it, the annual report, entitled "BEE SECURE Radar", documents the observations made by BEE SECURE during its activities during the 2020-2021 school year.

The results are based on surveys conducted with parents on the use of ICT by their children and with young people of age 17 to 30 on their own use of ICT. The questions covered both the type and duration of use of digital devices and the assessment and experience of risks and hazards. These surveys indicate certain trends for three age groups.

Luxembourg's Minister of Education, Children and Youth, Claude Meisch, stated "This report shows us once again how important it is to continue to inform and educate adults and young people about the risks of too much screen time".

More than three hours a day on smartphone

The report finds nearly 80% of children own their own smartphone by the age of 12, the typical age at the end of primary school and the start of secondary education. More than 40% of children received their first smartphone before this age. Virtually everyone between the ages of 17 and 30 has one.

The vast majority of 3 to 11 year olds spend less than an hour a day on weekdays on their smartphone (76%) or tablet (65%), while 45% of parents of children aged 12 to 16 indicate that their child spends more than three hours a day on their smartphone during the week and 59% at weekends. Among the 17 to 30 year olds, no less than 52% said that they spend more than three hours a day on their smartphone on weekdays and 69% on weekends.

Screen time and fake news at the top of the risks

The evaluation of the results of the two surveys carried out by the SNJ and the analysis of the topics to which the requests for information and advice were sent to the BEE SECURE Helpline, indicate that the main risks associated with the use of ICT, were related to screen time / excessive use, disinformation (fake news), hateful or violent content, cyberbullying, cybercrime (e-crime), content not adapted to the age, influence of online models as well as data protection / online privacy risks.

Parents believed that children aged 3 to 16 are primarily at risk of "spending too much time online" while young aged 17 to 30 cited that they see misinformation and "fake news" more frequently, as the highest risk to which they are most exposed.

The report concludes on the importance of knowing the trends in the use of ICTs by children and adolescents. The surveys and analyses will be further developed and refined in the future.

This report, which will henceforth be published annually, aims to inform all the actors who are committed together to safer use of the Internet by children and young people and to help them guide their actions.

The "BEE SECURE Radar 2022" report is available in its entirety at www.bee-secure.lu/bee-secure-radar.