Children taking a dangerous online stand
WE’RE all aware the online environment is ripe with danger for our kids.
Between screen time overload to bullying and online predators, it’s an area that freaks most parents out.
And some new stats are not doing anything to calm the nerves.
According to a survey by the US-based Center for Cyber Safety and Education, 40 per cent of Year 4 to Year 8 students had connected or chatted online with a stranger.
Of those, 53 per cent had revealed their phone number to a stranger, 21 per cent had spoken by phone with a stranger, 30 per cent had texted with a stranger, 15 per cent had tried to meet a stranger, and 11 per had actually met a stranger in their own home, the stranger’s home or at a shopping centre, park or restaurant.
It’s important to note that some of these strangers were undoubtedly same-age peers and they may have chatted on social media or online gaming.
But it’s still important to know that this is what children are doing and that it’s looking to be the new norm.
The kids were also quizzed about “breaking the rules’’.
Here a third of them admitcent ted to using the internet in ways their parents would not approve of. A further 20 per cent searched the internet for “adult topics’’, 21 per cent watched “adult programs’’ online and 31 per cent downloaded songs with adult lyrics. And this is despite 87 per cent admitting they were taught how to use the internet safely.
Children in this age group also admitted to being online late at night. A whopping 49 per cent claimed to be online at 11pm or later on a school night and 33 per cent were online until after midnight.
The average time they were online on school days other than doing homework was two hours a day.
Photo: iStock