Estonia

In brief: Estonian findings from EU Kids Online 2020

The use of the internet is thoroughly embedded in Estonian children’s daily lives: 97% of children aged 9 to 17 access the internet every day, using at least one device. Children from Russian-speaking families spend more time online than children from Estonian-speaking families (both on schooldays and at weekends). For example, only 6% of Estonian-speaking children spent more than 6 hours online during the week, while the proportion of heavy users among Russian-speaking children was 14%.

Searching for new friends and contacts plays a big role in children’s online communication. Almost half (46%) of the children had had online contact with someone they had never met face-to-face. Every third child who had had contact with strangers on the internet had also met that person face-to-face.

In eight years, the percentage of children who had experienced cyberbullying had not decreased, despite numerous stakeholder initiatives. Thirty-nine per cent of the children had encountered harmful websites, most often hate speech. Most of those Estonian children who had experienced online harm used a communicative coping strategy, mostly consulting their friends or parents. The latter, however, were not always aware of their children’s encounters of internet risks, as more than a quarter of the children tended to keep their negative online experiences to themselves.

Estonian parents can still be considered active mediators of their children’s internet use and safety. Most of the parents (92%) said that they had talked to their child about what the child did online, and 59% had given advice about using the internet safely. Children, however, considered their parents’ role in the social mediation of their internet use much smaller.

Estonian children and their parents are active and confident internet users, with less than half of the children claiming they needed some guidance when using the internet; 79% of the parents said that they knew a lot about using the internet. The myth about ‘digital natives’ still prevails among Estonian parents. Only half of them believed that they knew more about the internet compared to their children, even though the data about skills did not confirm this.
Kalmus, V., Tambaum, T., & Abuladze, L. (2023). In M. Sisask (Ed.), Estonian Human Development Report 2023: Mental Health and Well-Being (pgs235−250). Tallinn: SA Eesti Koostöö Kogu

Summary of findings

Recommendations

Safety guide

Questionnaires

The EU Kids Online fieldwork involved several questionnaires. First, a face to face interview with one parent. Second, a face to face interview with the child. Then a self-completion interview for sensitive questions, with one version for 9-10 year olds and one version for 11-16 year olds.

Estonian

Questionnaire for child age 9-17, version 2018 (Estonian)

Questionnaire for parent, version 2018 (Estonian)

Questionnaire for parent

Questionnaire for child

Self-completion questionnaire for child (Children age 9-10)

Self-completion questionnaire for child (Children age 11-16)

Russian

Questionnaire for child age 9-17, version 2018 (Russian)

Questionnaire for parent, version 2018 (Russian)

Questionnaire for parent

Questionnaire for child

Self-completion questionnaire for child (Children age 9-10)

Self-completion questionnaire for child (Children age 11-16)

Kalmus, V., Batista, S., Opermann, S., Tercova, N., & Jaron Bedrosova, M. (2024). . In D. Kutsar, M. Beilmann, & O. Nahkur (Eds.), Child Vulnerability and Vulnerable Subjectivity: Interdisciplinary and Comparative Perspectives (pp. 131−152). Cham: Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-61333-3_8.

Pangrazio, L., Langton, K., & Siibak, A. (2024). In: J. Sefton-Green, O. Erstad, & K. Mannell (Eds.), The Platformization of the Family: Towards a Research Agenda (pp. 47−68). Palgrave.

Kalmus, V., Tambaum, T., & Abuladze, L. (2023). . In: M. Sisask (Ed.), Estonian Human Development Report 2023: Mental Health and Well-Being (pp. 235−250). Tallinn: Estonian Cooperation Assembly.

Kikerpill, K., & Siibak, A. (2023). In: Research Handbook on AI and Communication. (pp. 94−107). Edward Elgar Publishing. DOI: 10.4337/9781803920306.00014.

Kikerpill, K., & Siibak, A. (2023). . Computers in the Schools, 40(4), 334−355. DOI: 10.1080/07380569.2023.2244941.

Kikerpill, K., & Siibak, A. (2023). Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 28(1), 76−82. DOI: 10.1111/camh.12621

Kalmus, V., Sukk, M., & Soo, K. (2022). . Children & Society, 36(5), 1026−1042. DOI:

Siibak, A., & Kask, P.H. (2022). . Mediální studia / Media Studies, 16(1), 46−64.

Kalmus, V., & O’Neill, B. (2021). . Communications, 46(3), 327−331. DOI:

Pedaste, M., Kalmus, V., & Vainonen, K. (2021). [Dimensions of digital competence and its assessment in basic school]. Estonian Journal of Education, 9(2), 212−243. DOI: 10.12697/eha.2021.9.2.09

Siibak, A., & Mascheroni, G. (2021). . New York: Peter Lang Publishing.

Sukk, M., & Siibak, A. (2021). Caring dataveillance and the construction of “good parenting”: Reflections of Estonian parents and pre-teens. Communications, 46(3), 446−467. DOI:

Sukk, M., & Siibak, A. (2021) “My mom just wants to know where I am”. Estonian pre-teens perspectives on intimate surveillance by parents. Journal of Children and Media, DOI:

Jürisaar, K., & Siibak, A. (2020). [Teacher cyberbullying and possible interventions at school: A view of teachers experiencing student cyberbullying]. Estonian Journal of Education, 8(2), 192−218. DOI: 10.12697/eha.2020.8.2.08

Kalmus, V., & Siibak, A. (2020). []. In H. Sooväli-Sepping (Ed.), Eesti inimarengu aruanne 2019/2020 [Estonian Human Development Report 2019/2020]. Tallinn: Estonian Cooperation Assembly.

Kalmus, V., Soo, K., & Siibak, A. (2020). Eesti noorte veebiriskid ja nendega toimetulek [Online risks of Estonian youth and their coping strategies]. In A.-A. Allaste, & R. Nugin (Eds.), [Youth Monitoring Yearbook 2019-2020: Unopened Aspects of Young People’s Lives] (pp. 77−99). Tallinn: Estonian Youth Work Centre, Tallinn University.

Murumaa-Mengel, M., & Siibak, A. (2020). . In M. Filimowicz, & V. Tzankova (Eds.), Reimagining Communication: Meaning (pp. 228−245). London: Routledge.

Siibak, A. (2020). Digipõlvkonnast sotsiaalmeedia põlvkonnaks: põlvkondlikku enesemääratlust kujundavad trendid Eesti noorte internetikasutuses [From a digital generation to a social media generation: Trends in guiding the generational we-sense in the internet use of Estonian youth]. Methis. Studia Humaniora Estonica, 26, 17−34. DOI:

Siibak, A., & Kalmus, V. (2020). Äratuskell uueks tiigrihüppeks [Wake-up call for a new Tiger jump]. In I. Ibrus, M. Tamm, & K. Tiidenberg (Eds.), [Estonian Digital Culture Manifesto] (pp. 63−70). Tallinn: Tallinn University Press.

Lipu, M., & Siibak, A. (2019). “Take it down!”: Estonian parents’ and pre-teens’ opinions and experiences with sharenting. Media International Australia, 170(1), 57−67. DOI:

Murumaa-Mengel, M., & Siibak, A. (2019). . Comunicazioni Sociali, 2, 263−275. DOI: 10.26350/001200_000063

Siibak, A., & Nevski, E. (2019). . In O. Erstad, R. Flewitt, B. Kümmerling-Meibauer, & I. S. Pires Pereira (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Digital Literacies in Early Childhood (pp. 123−133). London: Routledge.

Siibak, A., & Traks, K. (2019). . Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies, 11(1), 115−121. DOI: 10.1386/cjcs.11.1.115_1

Kalmus, V., Masso, A., Opermann, S., & Täht, K. (2018). . Trames: Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences, 22(1, 72/67), 45−62. DOI: 10.3176/tr.2018.1.03

Nevski, E., & Siibak, A. (2018). . In C. Pascal, A. Bertram, & M. Veisson (Eds.), Pedagogic Innovations in Early Childhood Education in Cross-Cultural Contexts (pp. 192-207). London: Routledge.

Opermann, S. (2018). Youth news use in Estonia. In Y. Andersson, U. Dalquist, & J. Ohlsson (Eds.), (pp. 91−104). Göteborg: Nordicom.

Sukk, M., & Soo, K. (2018). ]. V. Kalmus, R. Kurvits, & A. Siibak (Eds). Tartu: University of Tartu, Institute of Social Studies.

Kalmus, V. (2016). . In R. Nugin, A. Kannike, & M. Raudsepp (Eds.), Generations in Estonia: Contemporary Perspectives on Turbulent Times (pp. 319−341). Tartu: University of Tartu Press.

Kalmus, V., Blinka, L., & Ólafsson, K. (2015). . Children and Society, 29(2), 122−133. DOI: 10.1111/chso.12020

Karaseva, A., Siibak, A., & Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt, P. (2015). . Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 9(1). DOI: 10.5817/CP2015-1-6

Soo, K., Kalmus, V., & Ainsaar, M. (2015). [The role of Estonian teachers in the social mediation of children’s internet use]. Estonian Journal of Education, 3(2), 156−185. DOI: 10.12697/eha.2015.3.2.06

Talves, K., & Kalmus, V. (2015). . Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 9(1). DOI: 10.5817/CP2015-1-4

Trültzsch-Wijnen, C. W., Trültzsch-Wijnen, S., & Siibak, A. (2015). In F. Zeller, C. Ponte, & B. O’Neill (Eds.), Revitalising Audience Research: Innovations in European Audience Research (pp. 176−194). London & New York: Routledge.

Kalmus, V., Siibak, A., & Blinka, L. (2014). . In A. Ben-Arieh, I. Frones, F. Casas, & J. E. Korbin (Eds.), Handbook of Child Well-Being: Theories, Methods and Policies in Global Perspective (pp. 2093−2133). Dordrecht: Springer.

Murumaa-Mengel, M., & Siibak, A. (2014). . In L. Kramp, N. Carpentier, A. Hepp, I. Tomanic-Trivundza, H. Nieminen, R. Kunelius, T. Olsson, E. Sundin, & R. Kilborn (Eds.), Media Practice and Everyday Agency in Europe (pp. 249–259). Bremen: Edition lumière.

Kalmus, V. (2013). Laste turvalisus uues meediakeskkonnas [Children’s safety in the new media environment]. In M. Heidmets (Ed.), [] (pp. 83–85). Tallinn: Estonian Cooperation Assembly.

Kalmus, V., & Ólafsson, K. (2013). . Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 7(1). DOI: 10.5817/CP2013-1-1

Oolo, E., & Siibak, A. (2013). . Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 7(1). DOI: 10.5817/CP2013-1-7

Siibak, A., & Tamme, V. (2013). “. Northern Lights, 11, 71−89. DOI: 10.1386/nl.11.1.71_1

Kalmus, V. (2012). . In C.W. Wijnen, S. Trültzsch, & C. Ortner (Eds.), Medienwelten im Wandel: Kommunikationswissenschaftliche Positionen, Perspektiven und Konsequenzen. Festschrift für Ingrid Paus-Hasebrink (pp. 137–149). Wien: Springer.

Kalmus, V., & Roosalu, T. (2012). . In M. Walrave, W. Heirman, S. Mels, C. Timmerman & H. Vandebosch (Eds.), e-Youth: Balancing between Opportunities and Risks (pp. 235–250). Brussels: Peter Lang.

Soo, K., Ainsaar, M., & Kalmus, V. (2012). . Studies of Transition States and Societies, 4(2), 35–48.

Veronika Kalmus (PhD in Sociology) is a Professor of Sociology and the Director of the Doctoral Programme in Sociology at the Institute of Social Studies, University of Tartu. Her research focuses on socialisation, generations and inter-generational relationships, mediatisation, platformisation, and AI. She participates in several international research networks and projects (e.g., CHANSE-funded PlatFAMs, REMEDIS and PROMISE) and is a member of Academia Europaea (Section of Film, Media and Visual Studies).

Andra Siibak (PhD in Media and Communication) is a Professor of Media Studies and the Director of the Doctoral Programme in Media and Communication at the Institute of Social Studies, University of Tartu. Her main field of research focuses on the datafication of childhood, datafication of education, AI, and privacy. Together with Giovanna Mascheroni she has co-authored two monographs “Datafied Childhoods: Data Practices and Imaginaries in Children’s Lives” (Peter Lang, 2021), and “Children and AI: Changing Digital Lives” (Palgrave, forthcoming in 2025). Andra is a member of the Film, Media and Visual Studies section of Academia Europaea.

Iiris Tuvi (PhD in Psychology) is a Research Fellow in Psychology at the Institute of Psychology, University of Tartu. Her current research interests are children’s mental health and wellbeing, the use of digital technologies, and digital competencies. She is also interested in studying cognitive mechanisms of deception, susceptibility to deception, and mechanisms of visual attention. She has participated in international and national research projects such as CO:RE, “Scaling Up Educational Innovations in Schools (SEIS)”, “The Study of Estonian Children’s Mental Health” and many more.

Signe Opermann

Signe Opermann (PhD in Media and Communication) is a Research Fellow in Media Sociology at the Institute of Social Studies, University of Tartu. Her research focuses on media repertoires, social generations, mediatisation, and platformisation. She participates in international research projects such as PlatFAMs and PROMISE (funded by the CHANSE programme). Her teaching covers social theories, the media system, and research principles.

Kadri Soo (PhD in Sociology) is a Lecturer in Social Welfare at the Institute of Social Studies, University of Tartu. Her research interests include child wellbeing, children’s rights, gender-based violence, (online) sexual harassment of young people, and child abuse. She participates in international research projects such as Children’s Worlds (International Survey on Children’s Well-Being, ISCWeB) and EU Kids Online. She is a member of the International Society for Child Indicators.

Kristjan Kikerpill (PhD in Sociology) is a Lecturer in Information Law and Digital Sociology at the Institute of Social Studies, University of Tartu. In the past few years, his main research topics have included the datafication of education, privacy, and the use of AI-based digital technologies. He has also researched the topics of cyber criminology and technology-mediated fraud. Kristjan’s latest work is a co-authored chapter published in The Routledge International Handbook of Online Deviance titled “Contextual factors of online deception and harmful information: Multidisciplinary perspectives”.

Hanna Kerstina Kartau is an Analyst at the Institute of Social Studies, University of Tartu. She assists in teaching quantitative analysis methods and is in the process of obtaining her master’s degree in “Analysis of Society and Information Processes” at the same institute. Previously she has been a member of the European Social Survey team in Estonia, as well as several other research projects at her home institute, mostly focussing on collecting and analysing quantitative data.

Katre Lamp is a master’s student at the Institute of Psychology, University of Tartu. As part of the EU Kids Online project, her research topic covers “Parental involvement in Estonian schoolchildren’s internet use and the relationship between such involvement and students’ experiences of cyberbullying and anxiety”. Katre also works as a psychologist at a general education school supporting the mental health of Estonian schoolchildren.

Professor Veronika Kalmus
Institute of Social Studies
University of Tartu
Lossi 36
51003 Tartu
Estonia
Tel: +372 56 623 583
Email: veronika.kalmus@ut.ee

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Estonia

In brief: Estonian findings from EU Kids Online 2020

Highlights

Reports

Questionnaires

Estonian

Russian

Publications

Team

Contact

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