Children share details with strangers online
27 Apr 2010
Survey prompts concerns about children giving personal information to strangers online
More than one in five young people are sharing personal details with strangers online, reports Children and Young People Now magazine.
This comes from new research, commissioned by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), which also revealed that one in five children have been bullied or threatened via the internet.
Professor Julia Davidson of Kingston University, who led the study, said: "A significant proportion of teenagers engage in behaviour that adults would consider risky, such as posting personal information and photos of themselves.
"This is often viewed as acceptable by young people. We need to better understand teenagers' online behaviour in order to develop more effective policy and safety practices."
The research was conducted from a group of 1,700 young people, aged 11 to 16.
More than 20 per cent of those taking part said they had shared their full name, where they go to school and photos of themselves, with people they know only through the internet.
The aim of the study was to examine young people's knowledge of internet safety and the impact of internet safety training on them.
Source: www.cypnow.co.uk