Engl. transl.: The role of Estonian teachers in the social mediation of children’s internet use

The aim of the article is to give an overview on the social mediation practices of Estonian teachers in different municipality types and language groups. Besides that, the influence of teachers’ social mediation on children’s online risk behaviour and harm experience is examined. We investigate the Internet use in Estonia because Estonia is a country with one of the highest internet freedom levels in the world (Freedom House, 2014). Recent representative surveys (Livingstone et al., 2011a; Kalmus, 2013) demonstrate that Estonian children are active internet users with a high level of risky online activities, while the level of parental mediation is quite low, and parents rely on teachers and older siblings as mediators of children’s internet use (Komp, 2012; Vinter & Siibak, 2012).

"Majority (87%) of Estonian children aged 9–16 reported about some activities of teachers’ social mediation of the internet. The most common type of the social mediation of the internet was restrictive mediation, while active mediation of internet safety was also quite common among Estonian teachers. Teachers in smaller municipalities and the Estonian-speaking community were most active in mediating children’s internet use. They also used the most diverse range of different mediation activities. A possible explanation may be that teachers in smaller municipality schools have smaller classes and, thus, more personal contacts with students." (Soo et al., 2015, p. 184).