Challenges and Opportunities for Young People in the Region’s Digital Economy

Abstract

The article sets the goal of assessing the level of development of digital literacy of young people. As part of the implementation of the Federal project “Digital Educational Environment,” programs are being introduced aimed at improving the information literacy of students. The active introduction of information and communication technologies into public life leads to the need to study the problems that impede the development of media information literacy of schoolchildren, their parents and teachers. Design/methodology/approach: The method that forms the basis of a comprehensive study of the level of digital and media literacy of schoolchildren, their parents and teachers of the Stavropol Territory is a sociological study conducted in the format of an online questionnaire (April–May 2020). The purpose of the research is to identify at what age children consciously begin to use the Internet to search for information, how often and for what purpose schoolchildren use virtual space, as well as what Stavropol schoolchildren know about the dangers and risks when using the Internet, with the help of which software products teachers and parents try to limit the influence of the virtual world on the formation of the child’s mental development. Findings: As a result of the research, it was found that youngest Internet users use virtual space for entertainment and communication on social networks. Accordingly, modern schoolchildren are constantly at the center of various events and information flows. A sociological study conducted among schoolchildren of the region showed that 97% of teenagers use the Internet every day, 86% go to social networks several times a day, 29% actually all the time online. At the same time, the older the students, the more time they spend on the Internet. Originality/value: The research of the publicly accessible digital life of the young generation of the Stavropol Territory made it possible to identify the problems and risks that schoolchildren face in virtual space. The results of the research will form the basis of an educational course for schoolchildren, parents of teenage children and teachers on the created Internet portal.