Safety by Literacy? Rethinking the Role of Digital Skills in Improving Online Safety

A study of the relationship between parental mediation and adolescents’ digital skills, online risks and online opportunities

“…In the present study we aim to check the validity and the structure of the Digital Literacy Scale that was previously developed (Rodríguez-de-Dios, Igartua, & Gonz alez-V azquez, 2016), based on research by Area and Pessoa (2012), Shapiro andHughes (1996), andCabero, Marín, andLlorente (2012). In this scale, six different skills were considered as being part of the broader concept of digital literacy, similar to previous research (Bunz, 2004;Helsper & Eynon, 2013;Lee & Chae, 2012;Sonck & de Haan, 2014;Zhang & Zhu, 2016): technological or instrumental skills (i.e., the ability to effectively use digital technologies), communication skills (i.e., the ability to communicate through digital technologies), information skills (i.e., the ability to find information, obtain it, and evaluate its relevance in the digital environment), critical skills (i.e., the ability to critically analyse the information obtained), personal security skills (i.e., the ability to manage privacy online and ensure personal safety) and devices security skills (i.e., the ability to take precautions to keep digital devices safe and avoid potential threats, such as viruses and spyware).…”

“…Therefore, digital literacy includes elements of other literacies, so that even some authors state that it is composed by other literacies (Koltay, 2011). For example, many classifications of the skills that comprise digital literacy include an informational skill (Eshet-Alkalai, 2004;Sonck & de Haan, 2014), that refers to the ability to identify, locate, evaluate and use information in the digital environment. In the same way, the dimension media locus of control of the News Media Literacy Scale (Maksl, Ashley, & Craft, 2015) would be related to the critical dimension in digital literacy.…”

“…Moreover, and based on previous literature (Bawden, 2001;Claro et al, 2012;Eshet-alkalai & Chajut, 2009;Gui & Argentin, 2011;Hargittai, 2008;Helsper & Eynon, 2013;Koc & Barut, 2016;Lee & Chae, 2012;Leung & Lee, 2012a;Livingstone, 2004;Sonck & de Haan, 2014;Wilson, Scalise, & Gochyyev, 2015;Zhang & Zhu, 2016), we consider that digital literacy consists of several specific digital skills that adolescents need to learn in order to function effectively in the digital environment.…”

“…It is assumed that adolescents can avoid negative consequences of digital technologies by acquiring digital skills Sonck & de Haan, 2014;Sonck, Livingstone, Kuiper, & de Haan, 2011). Thus, some scholars suggest that digital skills could be a prevention tool against online risks, taking into consideration the good results obtained by media literacy in addressing the harmful effects of mass media (Duran, Yousman, Walsh, & Longshore, 2008;Halliwell, Easun, & Harcourt, 2011;Irving, Dupen, & Berel, 1998;Jeong, Cho, & Hwang, 2012).…”

“…Thus, some scholars suggest that digital skills could be a prevention tool against online risks, taking into consideration the good results obtained by media literacy in addressing the harmful effects of mass media (Duran, Yousman, Walsh, & Longshore, 2008;Halliwell, Easun, & Harcourt, 2011;Irving, Dupen, & Berel, 1998;Jeong, Cho, & Hwang, 2012). However, there are very few empirical studies that examine the relationship between digital skills and online risks (Sonck & de Haan, 2014) and, contrary to what is expected, initial evidence suggests that the more skilled adolescents are, the more online risks they experience (Lee & Chae, 2012;Leung & Lee, 2012b;Livingstone et al, 2017b;Livingstone & Helsper, 2010;Sonck & de Haan, 2013;Staksrud et al, 2013).…”