Defending themselves

“Over 12% of European children said they have been bothered or upset by experiences online” and in most cases “their parents were not aware of the risks to which their children had been exposed”. These are the findings of a research promoted by the London School of Economics based on interviews with 23,000 young people aged 9-16 across 25 European Countries. The “EU Kids Online” project representative for Italy is OSSCOM – Communications Observatory – of Milan’s Catholic University. While not overlooking the dangers, the researchers stressed that the majority of children had no upsetting experiences on the internet and indeed were often comfortable doing things that some adults consider risky”. Young internauts were upset by encountering pornography, sexual or bullying messages and potentially harmful user-generated-content. The main findings of the survey funded by the European Commission are available in the report “Risks and safety on the internet”, that can be downloaded at www.eukidsonline.net. Parents and sons – a comparison. “It is the first research of the kind – said Catholic University research coordinator Giovanna Mascheroni – representing the fruit of a project begun in 2006. The special relevance of this survey is not its theme, on which many researches have been conducted over the past years, but the extent of the survey and the decision to interview both the children and their parents”. From this comparison emerges perhaps the most alarming figure: most parents of children who experienced risky situations online are totally unaware of what has happened to their children. Of the monitored Countries, Italy is the one with the highest number of private access to internet on the part of the minors. 59% surf the web from their own room or from a computer which they use exclusively, against a European average of 48%. “We must sensitize parents on the risks run by their children online – Mascheroni explains -. However we must not forget that online security is not achieved by installing new technologies but with dialogue inside the family. Parents must learn to go online with their children and speak about what is happening online. In fact, internet represents a major opportunity for the youth, and it must not be demonized, but simply it is necessary to prevent all risks”. Online already at 7 . “The research – explains Sonia Livingstone , an author of the report – shows that European children are going online at an increasingly younger age, and ever more often. The web has become an integrating part of the life of young people across Europe, and they use it for a range of things which are often beneficial including schoolwork, playing games, watching video and instant messaging”. However, continues the expert, “younger children find it hard to cope with upsetting experiences and this is the area where governments should promote actions to protect and educate”. These are important findings considering that children go online at an ever-earlier age: at 7 on average in Sweden and at 10 in Italy. According to the research “The Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania and Sweden were the countries where children were more at risk online, with Italy, Portugal and Turkey showing the lowest risk”. Not only risks but also opportunities. The survey shows that a larger use of the web on the part of the youth entails an increase in opportunities, not only in risks and negative experiences. “A positive finding is that children have the ability to defend themselves”, continues Mascheroni. In fact, according to the findings, 39% of the users came across threats (ranging from negative content to bullying, pornography and even cases of enticement), but only 12% said they had been upset. “This means that exposure to possible risks doesn’t necessarily upset children online. Nonetheless – concludes the expert – in order to step up defenses it is necessary to start working in schools and in the family, focusing not only on technical training but also on the cultural approaches”.