Digitally Deprived Children in Europe

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the need for internet connectivity and technological devices across the population, but especially among school-aged children. For a large proportion of pupils, access to a connected computer nowadays makes the difference between being able to keep up with their educational development and falling badly behind. This paper provides a detailed account of the digitally deprived children in Europe, according to the latest available wave of the European Union – Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). We find that 5.4% of school-aged children in Europe are digitally deprived and that differences are large across countries. Children that cohabit with low-educated parents, in poverty or in severe material deprivation are those most affected.

A Developmental View on Digital Vulnerability and Agency of Children Under 10 Years of Age

“…In families with low socio-economic status, low education levels, and especially Roma minority status (in the Romanian sample), offline vulnerabilities were reflected in children's accounts, who expressed that they struggle to keep up with their schoolmates. Gaps in access to DT, often presented in statistical data from Romania (Ayllón et al, 2020(Ayllón et al, , 2023, were also acknowledged by some of the interviewed children, who expected more support from their school in developing digital literacy to help them overcome their marginalisation. Regarding children's agency in relation to their family and social contexts, the in-depth analysis revealed that children have internal resources to strategies and adapt to a familial context that mediates their access to the digital world, which had already marked their young lives and might influence their future.…”

“…The parental capacity to negotiate and maintain boundaries could promote resilience among children and make them feel digitally competent. Still, in these cases, tutoring by educators would be necessary to avoid increasing existing digital divides (Ayllón et al, 2023). Although some interviewed children reported understanding and respecting family rules, other children reported that their parents were unaware of the programmes and platforms they used, allowing them to skirt the rules established for such activities.…”

“…Thus, in the digital world, we understand vulnerability in the context of negative experiences, risks, or adversity through the use of DT. The theoretical framework of vulnerability has an integratory capacity, explaining individual reactivity in many domains, including developmental psychology (Masten, 2018;Sroufe, 1996), child protection (Fraser et al, 2010), and recently the digital vulnerability of children (Ayllón et al, 2023). Based on Masten and Gewirtz (2006), resilience is the successful adaptation of highly vulnerable individuals facing adversities in their lives.…”

Challenges in Education – Policies, Practice and Research

“…In order to avoid the overestimation or underestimation of teacher's own digital skills, it is necessary to cultivate a mentality of personal and professional growth both individually and collectively Promoting a reality-based mentality will lead to realistic solutions to educational problems, but also to the development of trust in teachers and other authorities who have influence in leading the socio-educational progress of a community Researchers concerned about the situation of the Romanian educational system conducted studies, prepared reports on the situation of access to ICT devices by students and teachers and of the teachers training to face the challenge of online teaching during the pandemic Some of them even recommended possible public policies in the Romanian education system (Ayllón et al, 2021;etc;Botnariuc, 2020;Florian & Țoc, 2020;IRES, 2020;Onete et al, 2020;Velicu, 2020Velicu, , 2021aVelicu, , 2021b Thus, in order for change to take place in the Romanian educational system, it is necessary for each of us (students, teachers, principals, etc) to be aware and accept when we have a problem and initiate its solution, practicing healthy relationships with responsible people and getting involved in the solution activities initiated by them The continuous struggle between subordinates and managers will only lead to inefficiency of activities and poor results of the educational system for which no one takes responsibility…”

Smart access and smart protection for welfare gain in Europe during COVID‐19: An empirical investigation using real‐time data

“…has proliferated during the pandemic while raising concerns about personal data protection (e.g., the privacy of personal information, bank account details, and the use of human mobility tracking) and the quality of existing cybersecurity networks (Civil Security for Society, 2021−2022). Some significant measures have been introduced for cyber security (EU Cybersecurity Strategy-Horizon Europe, 2021−2027), 11 and digital literacy development programs have been implemented at the micro (Ayllón et al, 2021) and macro levels (European Commission, 2019−2024. 12 However, questions related to data access and data protection at the individual, household, and country levels remain challenging to answer due to the mobility restrictions imposed during lockdowns (Acquisti et al, 2020;Malgieri, 2020).…”