Nio bibliotekariers syn på barn och unga som internetanvändare : Problem och möjligheter på folkbibliotek

Sammanfattning: The aim of this master’s thesis is to study librarians’ views on children and young people as Internet users in Swedish libraries. It examines what types of problems and possibilities the librarians see with children’s and young people’s use of the Internet, how these problems might be solved, and what they think about regulations and filters. Qualitative interviews were conducted with nine librarians, and their statements were analysed with David Buckingham’s After the death of childhood as a theoretical foundation. Buckingham identifies three approaches. The negative view worries about children’s and young people’s wellbeing and claims that they are not able to cope with what they can find on the Internet so their access should be restricted by filtering. The positive view sees children and young people as naturally competent Internet users and wants to grant them unrestricted access. The pedagogical view identifies some problems but focuses on developing children’s and young people’s Internet competence. The results show that the negative view dominates when the librarians discuss potential problems with children’s and young people’s Internet use. The pedagogical view is represented when talking about solutions and desirable ways of working with development, and is the most common view. The positive view is the least common, but occurs in some statements regarding children’s and young people’s abilities. In general, the librarians seldom want to regulate the Internet differently based on age. They see filtering as a practical solution to problems with all users, not a way of protecting children and young people.