INTERNET USE STUDY:IRISH CHILDREN are less likely to be bullied online than their European counterparts and are among the most responsible users of social networking websites, a new Europe-wide survey shows.
One in 10 children between the age of nine and 16 years in the Republic has seen sexual images on the internet, compared to an average of 14 per cent of children in other European countries. Almost half of those who had seen the images said it bothered them, according to EU Kids Online, research funded by the European Commission published today.
About 4 per cent of Irish children say they have been bullied on the internet sometime in the past 12 months, compared to 23 per cent of children who report that they have suffered some form of bullying either off-line or online.
This compares to 14 per cent of Estonians and 12 per cent of Romanians, who say they have suffered bullying online. The EU average for online bullying is 5 per cent and bullying is lowest in southern European states such as Portugal and Italy, according to the report.
Those children who say they have been bullied on the internet are more likely to have been bullied on a social networking site or instant messaging. Bullying by e-mail, on gaming sites or in chatrooms is less common, probably because these applications are less used, it says.
“Bullying online is more common in countries where bullying in general is more common (rather than – an alternative hypothesis – in countries where the internet is more established). This suggests online bullying to be a new form of a long-established problem in childhood rather than, simply, the consequence of a new technology,” says the report.
In general, Irish children are less likely to encounter key risk factors online such as pornography, bullying, sending/receiving sexual messages and going to meetings with people first met online than other Europeans.
Some 3 per cent of children say they have met someone in person, who they first met online, which compares to 8 per cent of kids in other states.
Some 57 per cent of Irish children use social networking sites with most showing responsible usage patterns. For example just 11 per cent of users of social networking sites leave their profiles open to public viewing while 7 per cent publish their names and addresses online, it says.
One-third of children say they talk about private things on the internet which they do not share with people face to face. Two-thirds say this is not true for them.
The research shows that 94 per cent of parents in the Republic take an active role in restricting their children’s internet use, compared to 83 per cent of parents in other European countries.
Some 35 per cent of Irish children have access to the internet in their bedroom, compared to a European average of 48 per cent, it says.
However, the report says children in Ireland were at the lower end of the internet usage spectrum in Europe and are among the least likely to engage in a wide range of online activities. This is a concern as more use brings more opportunities and benefits, says the report.
Simon Grehan of the National Centre for Technology Education. which is an Irish partner for the EU Kids Online project, said a balance needs to be struck between empowerment and protection of children.
“We should be careful not to overstate the potential for harm of the internet,” he said. “Unbalanced headlines and self-serving statements by vested interests have contributed to the climate of anxiety that surrounds new technology and created a fiercely polarised debate in which panic and fear often drown out evidence. This moral hysteria can lead to children being denied the opportunities so obviously afforded by these new technologies,” he said.
Margie Roe, national childline manager for the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, said the findings showing that Irish children were among the most responsible in Europe demonstrated the huge amount of educational work already done here.
“The most important advice for parents is for them to educate themselves about online activity and be open with their children about the internet and share the experience with them,” she said.
Research teams from 26 countries participated in the EU Kids Online survey, which gathered information from 23,420 children aged nine to 16 years who use the internet, plus one of their parents.