What grades did you get today? Did you get into any trouble today?
These are the questions we most often ask children when they return from school. Maybe it’s worth asking what did they learn on that day, what did they talk to their classmates about, what websites they browsed, or who they met on the Internet? Because it is very important who our child talks to and how they behave in the virtual world.
Children, teenagers, and Internet phenomena were the topics of our talk with Tomasz Huk, PhD, DLitt, Associate Professor of the University of Silesia, an expert whose research interests revolve around the school space, key competencies, and digital media used by children and teenagers. The professor also serves as the Director of Primary School No. 11 with Integration Departments in Katowice.
Violetta Kulik: Professor, along with digital media new phenomena have appeared that concern the activities of children and teenagers. What phenomena are these?
Tomasz Huk, PhD, DLitt, Associate Professor: It is worth emphasizing that the set of these phenomena is not closed, and new ones are constantly being defined, because digital media, including the Internet, are constantly developing. Many of these phenomena are related to the problematic use of the Internet, abbreviated as PUI.
Violetta Kulik: What exactly is PUI?
Tomasz Huk, PhD, DLitt, Associate Professor: The easiest definition of PUI is the abuse of the Internet or its dysfunctional use leading to inappropriate behaviour, addictions, pathologies, and even mental disorders. Hypothetically, PUI is related to such phenomena as FOMO, hikikomori, sexting, sextortion, and cyberbullying. We observe these phenomena not only in the adult environment but also among children and teenagers.
Violetta Kulik: You named many phenomena we deal with, but the existence of which we are not aware. How do they work exactly?
Tomasz Huk, PhD, DLitt, Associate Professor: Most adults, children and teenagers fear overlooking very important information that we obtain through digital media, social networks, or instant messengers. For example, when we forget our smartphone when going to school or work in the morning, we start to feel discomfort, a certain type of fear. We wonder if someone wrote an important message to us or if someone called us with information that is of great importance to our lives. These are the symptoms of FOMO, i.e. the “fear of missing out”.
It is worth mentioning here the phenomenon of hikikomori, which, although defined in Japan, is familiar to us thanks to the film “Suicide Room” directed by Jan Komasa. Hikikomori is a form of social withdrawal of teenagers and young people who become unable to work or go to school. They are loners locked in their rooms. It is not uncommon for the rooms of the people affected by hikikomori to be dark and the only source of light to be a bedside lamp or a glowing computer screen. Such people do not leave their “den”, which becomes their safe place. Even the meals are left for them at the door of their room.
Violetta Kulik: How should we deal with people who exhibit hikikomori symptoms?
Tomasz Huk, PhD, DLitt, Associate Professor: First of all, you cannot force such people away from their lifestyle. Most often, people immersed in the virtual world to the point it becomes their only world are given a virtual friend. Such friend gradually gains the trust of the hikikomori, trying to show this other person step by step that there is a beautiful real world outside of the virtual life.
Violetta Kulik: Have you ever encountered such a phenomenon in your work in education?
Tomasz Huk, PhD, DLitt, Associate Professor: I cannot say for sure whether it was actually hikikomori, but I am certain that those teenagers had some symptoms of it. I have encountered such a case 15 years ago, when an 11-year-old boy closed himself in his room, stopped attending school and ate only yoghurt due to the trauma of his parents’ divorce. He spent all day and night in his dark room just playing video games. He would go to school once in a blue moon. He was signalising that he had suicidal thoughts. Of course, we provided him psychological help, even though at the time no one have ever heard of hikikomori. In a second case, we tried to give the teenager a virtual friend, however, we did not succeed, because at some point the boy stopped contacting his friend by phone.
Violetta Kulik: You have also mentioned such phenomena as sexting, sextortion, and cyberbullying. What are they?
Tomasz Huk, PhD, DLitt, Associate Professor: I will start with the most commonly known, which is cyberbullying, i.e. bullying using digital media. This type of cyberviolence consists of harassment and posting private information about others that causes embarrassment or humiliation. Cyberbullying is most popular on social media such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or in the gaming community. Nowadays, cyberbullying is common in schools, because children and teenagers use smartphones and other mobile devices a lot more often now.
Sexting can be related to cyberbullying. It consists of sending messages, photos or videos of a sexual nature via digital media. In some cases, a leak of the sexting media can lead to being bullied by other students at school. It happens when a teenager uses the internet and technology to blackmail or harass another child. Moreover, if the material benefit is the motivating factor for the harassment, we can call it a sextortion.
Violetta Kulik.: The huge number of such incidents makes us feel that we can very often observe them in the lives of children and teenagers.
Tomasz Huk, PhD, DLitt, Associate Professor: Contrary to what mass media is telling us, cyberbullying or problematic usage of the internet does not affect a significant percentage of children and teenagers. It is also worth mentioning that violence amongst children and teenagers has always existed. However, nowadays due to the huge development in technology, it takes a slightly different form and its intensity is also higher. Of course, the small percentage of those phenomena does not mean that we shouldn’t care about them. On the contrary, especially we, the adults, should do anything we can to eliminate those pathological behaviours. Every child deserves to be respected, feel safe, have an adult’s attention, and have a right to a happy childhood.
Violetta Kulik: Even though you say that those phenomena are not as frequent as we could think, they are still a great threat in the 21st century. Are children in schools, especially in primary schools, taught about those threats?
Tomasz Huk, PhD, DLitt, Associate Professor: Schools are obligated to shape proper attitudes in students and to inform them of the threats lurking in the 21st century. Each school develops its own education policy and preventive and educational programmes for these purposes. Many of the schools in Silesia are cooperating with scientists from our University and with the police and non-governmental organisations dealing with the safe use of the digital media. However, we have to remember that activities of institutions and non-governmental organisations should go hand in hand with parents’ actions and this is what many children and teenagers affected by online threats lack in their lives.
Violetta Kulik: Today we celebrate World Children’s Day. What do you wish them?
Tomasz Huk, PhD, DLitt, Associate Professor: I will reference my previous response. My dream is for every child around the world to be happy. I wish that every child would have a childhood that will be an unforgettable adventure and that it will be the time they will always cherish and want to recall in their memories. On the other hand, I wish the adults to go back to their childhood memories once in a while so they could better understand the younger generations.
Violetta Kulik: Thank you very much for the conversation.
Tomasz Huk, PhD, DLitt, Associate Professor