Internet the dangers and the possibilities : A study about Swedish and Danish teenagers' Internet habits

Abstract: Problem: When unknown things, (e.g. a new media) first emerge on the market it is often defined as a threat to the society's values. This phenomenon is called moral panic and seems to be happening right now due to the diffusion of the Internet. Many times teenagers find themselves in the middle of disturbing situations. There are also concerns in the society that the Internet makes teenagers antisocial. Purpose: Teenagers of today have been growing up with the Internet as a part of their daily life. Therefore we want to discover how this media affects them. We also want to find out if there are any differences and similarities in how Swedish and Danish teenagers use the Internet. In addition, we are interested to find out if there are any differences in how girls and boys use the media. Method: We have done a quantitative research study where we used questionnaires. The questionnaires included 27 questions concerning Internet habits. The questionnaires were handed out to two schools, Bergaskolan in Sweden and Frederikssunds Private Realskole in Denmark. The students were in the age group 14 to 17 and went in grade 7, 8 and 9. We received 329 questionnaires and based our research on those answers. Conclusion: We didn't find any major differences between the Swedish and the Danish students Internet habits. However, Swedish students seem to chat more than the Danish students. It is also common for both Swedish and Danish teenagers to have experienced something disturbing on Internet. In addition it is also common among the teenagers not to tell their parents about the incidents they frequently experiences while being online. We found some differences between the genders Internet habits. For example, the girls tend to use the Internet as an information tool whereas the boys use it as an entertainment provider.