Engl. transl.: The digital environment of teenagers

"The age on which young people get their own smartphone drastically decreases to the fourth grade / nine years old. Dutch-speaking families at home use as many as four to ten devices, unlike their comrades who have a different home language (one to three devices). YouTube and Instagram are the social media where young people prefer to stay. Facebook is degrading in popularity, especially with the youngsters from the first degree. To communicate, they use Snapchat and Instagram, followed by WhatsApp. In the streaming world, YouTube is king, with Netflix and Spotify on each side. As they get older, their interest in current facts increases. Online activism also has a place in their digital world. Facebook is a suitable medium for this because of the rich possibilities such as groups and events. Almost a fifth of young people, especially girls, was treated bad online or saw something that upset him or her, mostly through hurtful messages. Victims open their hearts especially to friends. As they get older, young people engage in more sexting. In the majority of the time they send sexts to their loved one or someone what they are in love with. Yet, one fifth of young people has ever been put under pressure but not all of them give in to the pressure and one third did sext but regretted it afterwards. When it comes to privacy, some believe they have a lot of control and others have none at all and another group remains neutral. Generally, young people are more concerned with their privacy as they are become older. Despite it all, teens do not often talk about rules or agreements withtheir parents. Although it is noticeable that young people that do make agreements about their media use will report faster when they have questions or when something goes wrong." (Vanhaelewyn et al., 2020, pp. 42-44, translated by Joanna Beeckmans)