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One-in-ten young teenagers have received sexual messages online

Additionally, it’s been found that one in five children surveyed said they’d had contact online with people they had never met in person.

A WIDE-RANGING study on children’s use of the internet in Ireland has found that ten per cent of young teenagers (13- to 14-year-olds) report having received sexual messages online.

For 15- to 16-year-olds, that figure rises to 22 per cent. The survey also asked about the impact of receiving such messages — one per cent said they were ‘very’ upset as a consequence, while three per cent said they were ‘a little’ upset.

Additionally, one in five children surveyed said they had had contact online with people they had never met face-to-face.

The survey findings are being released to raise awareness of ‘Safer Internet Day’ — a European initiative aimed at encouraging safer and more responsible use of the web.

500 children between the ages of 9 and 16 were questioned as part of the study, which was carried out by Dr Brian O’Neill and Thuy Dinh of DIT.

The findings were divided into four key areas…

Risk and harm

  • 1 in 5 children in Ireland (20 per cent) say that they have been bothered by something on the internet in the past year. A quarter of 13 to 14 year olds and 37 per cent of 15 to 16 year olds say they have experienced something that bothered them or wished they hadn’t seen.
  • 22 per cent of children have experienced any form of bullying (on or offline). 13 per cent of 13 to 14 year olds say that they have been bullied on a social networking site.
  • Girls are more likely to experience bullying than boys (26 per cent for girls compared to 17 per cent of boys). 20 per cent of girls, compared to 11 per cent of boys, said they had been upset by what happened.
  • Over a third of girls aged 13-16 encountered some form of harmful content — like hate messages, anorexic or bulimic content or self-harm sites.
  • 47 per cent of older teenagers have seen sexual images in the past 12 months, compared to 11 per cent of younger children.  About half of older teenagers who had seen sexual images said they were upset by the experience.

Access and use

  • Smartphones stand out as the most used device for internet access on a daily basis by 9-16 year olds in all contexts. Smartphones (35 per cent) followed by laptops (29 per cent) and tablets (27 per cent) are the devices most used to go online.
  • Most internet use is, in fact, still at home. 63 per cent of children report using the internet several times a day or at least once a day at home. Just under half (46 per cent) access the internet from their own bedroom on a daily basis, with 22 per cent saying they do so several times per day.
  • Internet access while on the move (on the way to school or when out and about) is still limited.  87 per cent of children say they never or almost never do this.

image

[Image: Peter Byrne/PA Wire]

Activities

  • 90 per cent of all 15 to 16-year-olds in Ireland have a profile on a social networking site. Notably, just under 40 per cent of 11 to 12 year olds also have a social networking profile, despite the age restriction of 13 for most such services.
  • 8 out of 10 children who use social networking use Facebook as their main profile.
  • Over one third of all 9-16 year olds (36 per cent) have a profile on a media sharing platform.
  • Entertainment (listening to music, watching video clips etc) is the most popular online activities for all age groups. The next most popular use of the internet is visiting social network sites.
  • Instant messaging (WhatsApp, for example) is used daily by more than a third of 13 to 16 year olds.

Mediation

  • Most parents are actively involved in guiding their children’s internet use: suggesting ways to use the internet safely (82 per cent), explaining why websites are good or bad (81 per cent), suggesting ways to behave with others online (74 per cent) or talking about what to do if something bothered their child online (69 per cent).
  • Most teachers also suggest ways to use the internet safely (81 per cent) or explain why some websites are good or bad (77 per cent).

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15 Comments
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    Mute Stephen Duggan
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    Feb 11th 2014, 7:21 AM

    Am I surprised ? Eh hell no !!!!. Thing is in the age we live in how do we control this ? My only answer can be better parental supervision and much better education for young kids especially school going age kids,maybe even introduce it in to the national curriculum as they do sex education,but at a younger age.

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    Mute nialls
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    Feb 11th 2014, 8:05 AM

    There is no way to stop kids going online but parents can do lots to “keep an eye” on them. If they have an email address or social media page demand to know the password or ban them from PC, tablet, laptop etc. if they have a phone demand to know all passwords and check browsing history regularly. If they refuse to hand over the phone, take it off them for a period of time. It’s not difficult folks. Just need to take time out if our busy lives to keep an eye on there online activity.

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    Mute Daniel Rea
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    Feb 11th 2014, 3:03 PM

    And what if they want to google a sensitive issue? Don’t underestimate the maturity of a lot of 14/15 year olds who want to guard their privacy as much as any adult.
    I think this is being hugely exaggerated anyway.

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    Mute Up Yours
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    Feb 11th 2014, 8:51 AM

    I remember the days when you had to wait for weeks to receive a sexual message in the post.

    How times have changed!

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    Mute Shannon McGraynor
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    Feb 11th 2014, 9:50 AM

    I’ve been using the internet since I was 12. I met one of my best friends online – skyped her so I knew she was who she said she was, met her after 2 years of online talking with parental supervision. She was the most supportive friend I had during my teens.
    And for sexual content? You hear almost twice as much sexual stuff in school from the older students at lunch than you do online.
    Just use safesearch on google and lock NSFW sites down until they are 14/15. Sorted.

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    Mute kingstown
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    Feb 11th 2014, 7:50 AM

    This is what happens when you give priests mobile phones. I wonder what family values paedophilia are for the Iona Institute?

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    Mute Edmund Murray
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    Feb 11th 2014, 9:32 AM

    @kingstown – do you normally get up in the morning with the intention of inciting religious hatred?
    Or did you take a double dose of your “stupid”pills today.

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    Mute James
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    Feb 12th 2014, 12:46 AM

    Disgraceful comment, if this was any other religion their would be uproar please take it down and look at the comment sections for religious hated that’s spewed on your articles daily

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    Mute Declan Pollard
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    Feb 11th 2014, 7:37 AM

    I was reading a study that found 40% of teenagers prefer to socialise using social media than talking face to face. A truly astounding and frightening statistic! After a while they will only be able to relate to emoticons instead of facial expressions. Not very good news for publicans in the future.

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    Mute Paul Doyle
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    Feb 11th 2014, 9:34 AM

    I regurarly check my daughters smartphone, saw a few messages I did not like. I told her to tell them to send a message to her phone apologising for bad language and comments and address the message to me. If no apologies were received them I would call around in person with my daughter and ask for apply in person.
    As soon as the three people sent the messages she could have her phone back.
    Took a while but I received the messages. The kids were horrified that I read the messages. Word got out that I had a bit of a freaker, no bad messages since.

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    Mute Marie Broomfield
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    Feb 11th 2014, 11:05 AM

    I like your style!

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    Mute Giovanni Giusti
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    Feb 11th 2014, 7:49 PM

    I would have loved to receive lots of sexual messages when I was 14, but sadly…

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    Mute Deasun Mac An Choiligh
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    Feb 11th 2014, 7:26 AM

    Statist much ?

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    Mute infosecexpert
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    Feb 11th 2014, 10:27 AM

    Educate yourself
    Educate your child
    Emphasize Communication
    Don’t be afraid

    https://www.isc2cares.org/uploadedFiles/wwwisc2caresorg/Content/SSO-Student-Parent-Agreement.pdf

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    Mute infosecexpert
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    Feb 11th 2014, 10:27 AM

    http://www.isc2irelandchapter.org/index.php/safe-secure

    Irish Security Professionals Volunteer Time to Stem Cyber Risks being Taken by Children

    Schools in Ireland have a new, free resource to call upon to ensure students, teachers, governors, and parents are prepared to take advantage of the Internet securely. The (ISC)2 by launching the availability of the its Safe and Secure Online® programme in Ireland. Safe and Secure Online volunteers, all (ISC)²-certified information security experts, are prepared to visit schools across the country to talk about the most serious cyber risks faced by young people, including cyberbullying, online grooming, sexting, and more.

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