The internet can be a pretty weird place for an adult, so imagine what it’s like if you’re a kid.
The Norton Family Report, a survey conducted by security company Symantec, has shown that six out of ten children has had a negative experience online.
The survey asked 2,800 children aged between 8-17 from all over the world about their online activities, and discovered that more than half had been the victim of cyber bullying, been exposed to inappropriate content, or propositioned to meet up with someone they met online. The survey also found that a third of all children felt anger, fear, or worry over a negative online experience and a fifth felt embarrassment and regret.
“As a professional Internet safety adviser, even I am surprised by some of the findings in this new report,” says Norton Internet Safety Advocate, Marian Merritt. “Parents do worry about predators, but they seem to be overlooking more common threats, such as cyber bullying.”
“Technology is part of the solution, but a lot of it is about good parenting. The singularly most effective way to help keep your children safe online is to have an ongoing dialogue with them. There’s so much we can do to make sure our children have a positive experience online. This report shows us where to focus our efforts right now.”
I’m not a statistician, but I can’t help but feel like the published results don’t paint a completely accurate picture of the data collected. While I have no doubt that the survey was conducted properly, lumping the data from fourteen different countries together – especially when one of the countries is China – seems like it would skew the results quite a lot when you consider the very different social climates.
Source: The Telegraph
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