One in four children have sent or been sent inappropriate material including pornography via email, according to a survey. The research also found that one in 20 children, aged between six and 15, had communicated with a stranger via webcam and one in 50 have actually met a stranger they first contacted online. The report, which surveyed 500 children, found that many children are getting away with behaviour online that they wouldn’t get away with in the real world, largely because of their parents’ lack of understanding and awareness of their internet habits and of safety precautions.
More than six out of 10 children (62 per cent) said they lie to parents about what they have been looking at online and over half (53 per cent) delete the history on their web browser so their parents can’t see what they have been looking at.
The survey, by TalkTalk, the broadband provider, also found that and one in nine (11 per cent) have either bullied someone online or been bullied online themselves.
In December, the Government announced that every primary schoolchild in the country will be taught about the dangers of the internet and how to safely surf online.
The “Click Clever, Click Safe’ campaign comes in response to a report by Prof Tanya Byron, the child psychologist and broadcaster, who was asked by the Government to consider how to protect children online. Prof Tanya Byron, who oversaw the TalkTalk research, said: “It’s crucial that parents educate themselves about what’s going on online and what their kids are doing there.”
the Telegraph
