More than 20 per cent of Irish schoolchildren have engaged in sex talk in an Internet chat-room with someone they have never met and about 25 per cent have accidentally found pornography on the Net. These are the main findings of a EU-funded Internet survey conducted among students in 14 primary and secondary schools in the Republic.
Most of those surveyed were aged between 11 and 14 years.
The survey found that while most children had been advised about Internet safety, 48 per cent had never been supervised while on-line at home. Significant numbers - about 30 per cent - said they used chat-rooms.
A surprisingly high number of these (86 per cent) said they had been asked for a "face-to-face" meeting with someone they had met in a chat-room.
The survey found that Internet usage among Irish school children is very high, with more than 90 per cent experienced in using it.
Responding to the report, the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, said the Internet had become a major medium for distributing illegal content such as pornography.
"It has also become a place where paedophiles are active in a predatory fashion. This is cause for concern by parents and teachers in terms of the potential threat or risk to our children's well-being."
It was clear, he said, that we must raise greater awareness among children about the personal risks associated with this activity.
Mr Dempsey launched a new leaflet, Be Wise on the Internet, a new initiative which will provide advice and information to parents. The Minister also launched a website FKBKO.net (for kids by kids) which gives children the skills to protect themselves on-line.