Abstract:

The internet has become an integral part of our lives. Its influence surpasses traditional media, especially with regard to the young generation, playing many important functions in their lives. Without question, it is an efficient aid in education, an essential source of information of all kinds, and a source of entertainment as well. On the other hand, it brings many difficulties and dangers. The objective of the study, the results of which are presented in our work, is to point out the possible risks of cyberspace. The risk aspects of internet use are documented in the results of a questionnaire survey of a group of 338 participants – pupils and students. Our study group included 193 pupils in the first and second level of elementary school and 145 high school students in the Czech Republic (Moravian-Silesian Region). The results document the amount of time that the participants spend on the internet, the most frequent reasons and types of this activity, the character of information published by the participants about themselves, information on encountering any form of cyberbullying, whether or not their schools teach them about cyberbullying, and any other possible hazardous phenomena of the cyberspace. During data processing, differences were evaluated by the participants’ gender, age and place of school (rural x urban). The results of our study indicate, for example, that more than a half of the participants have come across at least one form of cyberbullying (mocking, insults, belittling, name-calling etc.); the experience with cyberbullying increases with the age of the children; most participants regularly publish their personal data in the cyberspace; the effect of gender and the place of school did not show to have a significant effect. One of the few pleasing findings is the fact that majority of the participants stated that they get a lot of information about the risks of internet use from their school.

Keywords:

The internet, cyberspace, social network, safety, cyberbullying.