Many elderly Danes confess to struggling digitally – study

Around 10 percent can’t adequately surf the net and 13 percent don’t know how to download an app – although most are over 75

Loïc Padovani

Mar 29, 2023

According to a Danmarks Statistik study published this week, around 900,000 Danes are digitally challenged – nearly one in five of the population.

Around 10 percent confess to not having the skills to surf the net, whereas 13 percent don’t know how to download an app on their phones.

One age group accounts for the majority of those who feel challenged, and unsurprisingly they are people over the age of 75.

However, there have been many improvements among pensioners over the last 15 years. Some 98 percent of the public effortlessly make cashless payments, and the same percentage again uses the internet, compared to 86 percent in 2010.

“The younger age groups have had computers, mobile phones, tablets and game consoles available from an early age and are therefore naturally better at doing digital things than older age groups who have only become acquainted with digital solutions at a mature or late age,” explained Agnes Tassy, a senior consultant at Danmarks Statistik.

Digital violations a problem at schools
Meanwhile in related news, a study from Det Kriminalpræventive Råd reveals that 72 percent of Danish schools had cases of digital bullying last year, of which exactly one half involved illegal image sharing.

However, only 5 percent of children who are affected by a digital violation tell a teacher or educator at the school.

It is feared that such violations can lead to serious, long-term psychological and social consequences for victims, such as anxiety and depression.

“There is a clear need for schools to get help from municipalities to work much more systematically with digital violations. In this way, we can ensure that schools and young people get the right help,” commented Helena Juul Kanafani, an analyst at Det Kriminalpræventive Råd.

The survey revealed that only one in two headteachers feels they are sufficiently equipped to handle cases of that kind, while only 27 percent of schools have a written plan for how to deal with these digital violations.