Czechs and the Internet
Computers and the internet have become an integral part of our lives to such an extent that it is hard to imagine how we ever managed without them. However a recent survey conducted by the Czech Statistical Office shows that Czechs are still lagging behind many EU states when it comes to computer literacy and internet access.
Today two thirds of Czech households have computers and 61 percent of households are connected to the internet, putting the Czechs 20th and 18th respectively on the EU ladder, just below Slovakia and Poland which also have a communist past. The EU average is 70 percent, with the Netherlands at the top of the ladder with 91 percent of the population connected to the Internet. The highest number of Internet users in the Czech Republic is in the 14 to 30 age bracket where people use the internet both in school/ work or at home for entertainment with the number of internet users dropping in the higher age brackets. While younger people are more inclined to use the Internet as a source of information and entertainment and spend more hours on line per week – with approximately 3 to 5 hours a week spent on social networks - older people are more inclined to employ it for practical purposes –such as more effective job-hunting –or in ways that will help them save money. Bohumila Beranova is spokeswoman for the Czech Statistical Office.
A comparative study of internet use in Chile, Sweden and the Czech Republic shows that Czechs spend significantly less time at home on-line. This reflects a problem that Czech employers have been struggling to deal with – the fact that Czechs spend on average one hour of their work time browsing the web – either chatting with friends, shopping on-line or even playing computer games or viewing porn pages. Some employers have blocked access to certain pages –others monitor the time their employees spend on the Internet. Over ten thousand companies in the country have some sort of control system. When an employee was first fired over this transgression he took the case to court – and lost. Most employers now issue warnings and fine people for wasting company time. On the other hand, some firms use it as a bonus – a recent survey showed that Internet access is an important criterion for young people applying for a job and many would be willing to accept a lower salary than that offered for a comparable job but no internet access. Surveys even show when employees are likely to shirk their work - soon after coming in and immediately after lunch.
Theoretically Czech parents are well versed in internet safety -according to a survey commissioned by Microsoft and released this week on Internet Safety Day Czech parents got high grades when it comes to internet safety literacy. A full 90 percent of them were aware of the risks and how to best reduce them. However the Internet Safety Child Helpline established a few years ago says that the number of calls for help they get is on the rise. While in 2007 only 7 children called in to ask for advice, last year help-line workers took 230 calls. Most callers complained about cyber-bullying or getting pestered by someone requesting a meeting. Pavel Vichtera of safety.cz says that because children are often needy they are easy targets.
“Fifty percent of kids get online hoping to find a new friend. And the risks are in that they have no idea who they are actually dealing with.”
While young people are unable to imagine life without the internet – the elderly generally find that they can do well enough without it. Although 90 percent of all seniors over 70 now use a mobile phone only a tiny fraction of the country’s elderly have made friends with the Internet. Bohumila Beranova again:
However many seniors get younger members of the household to search for whatever they need –be it a bus connection or viewing Sunday’s mass at their local church online.
85-year old Adolf Kurka used to attend Sunday mass regularly –until he broke his leg on the ice and was house-bound. However thanks to a new service offered by the local parish – he is not missing out on the Sunday sermon. Every Sunday morning his son sets up his own notebook in time for the much awaited mass.
“I have been afraid to step outside when it’s icy and this way I can follow the mass from home. It’s a great joy and a treat for me to be present at least in this manner.”
For the present time computer literacy among the elderly remains low and most seniors are dependent on younger family members but as the population ages and more information and services for them become available on the Internet that is sure to change.
