Engl. transl.: „I learned all by myself”: the Romanian young people's self-perception of their digital competences.

"Following the theoretical framework and analysing the empirical data of the EU Kids Online III (2013) project, in this study, we have followed the digital competence of Romanian children and adolescents. We have studied the online activities they undertake, their attitudes towards the Internet and the perception they have of their digital competence. Romanian children and adolescents are very present in the digital world, which they perceive as a social space distinct from that of the adults, where they can retreat and where they can meet their needs for communication, information (not just for homework but also questions of their own concern), leisure, etc. However, the situation is far from ideal. The modest implication of parents and teachers in the online life of children and adolescents has a detrimental impact on their level of digital competence."

"""Romanian children and teenagers use the Internet mostly at home and less at school, but they use it mostly on their own devices – the digital technology and the Internet being a quasi-permanent presence in their daily lives. In recent years, mobile and convergent media (e.g. tablets, smartphones) has spread particularly among children from high SES families. (...) As in other areas of learning, the digital competence of Romanian young people increases through the practice and repetition of online activities; what is significant is that Romanian youngsters are left alone in this learning process. Parents and teachers are barely present (and mostly ineffective) in young people’s online lives, thereby leaving them to learn by trial and error. For some children, this method is beneficial, while for others it can lead to negative results (e.g. lower self-esteem, lack of confidence, and withdrawal from the digital universe). This might explain the different online competences of Romanian youngsters: technical skills are more developed for boys and older children while social skills are more developed for girls and adolescents and cognitive skills are more developed in older children. From the self-reports of Romanian children, we have noticed that they are rather passive consumers and participants in the digital world, lacking the initiative to create their own online content."" (Tokes & Velicu, 2015, 87)"