1. Risks and safety on the internet:
The perspective of European children
Full findings from EU Kids Online, January 2011

2. Aim
To enhance knowledge of the
experiences and practices of
European children and
parents regarding risky and
safer use of the internet and
new online technologies, in
order to inform the promotion
of a safer online environment
for children.

3. Classifying risks (exemplars)
Content Contact Conduct
Child as receiver Child as participant Child as actor
(of mass productions) (adult-initiated activity) (perpetrator / victim)
Aggressive Violent / gory content Harassment, stalking Bullying, hostile
peer activity
Sexual Pornographic ‘Grooming’, sexual Sexually
content abuse or exploitation harassment,
‘sexting’
Values Racist / hateful Ideological persuasion Potentially harmful
content user-generated
content
Commercial Embedded Personal data Gambling, copyright
marketing misuse infringement
Note: risks in bold are included in the survey

4. Demographic
Harm
Risk
Usage Activities or
factors
Psychological coping
INDIVIDUAL USER
Parents School Peers
SOCIAL MEDIATION Child as unit of analysis
Socio-economic Regulatory Technological Education Cultural
stratification framework infrastructure system values
NATIONAL CONTEXT Country as unit of analysis

5. Surveying ‘Europe’
 Random stratified sample: ~ 1000 9-16
year old internet users per country
 Fieldwork in spring/summer 2010
 Total: 25142 internet-users, 25 countries
 Interviews at home, face to face
 Self-completion for sensitive questions
 Indicators of vulnerability and coping
 Data from child paired with a parent
 Directly comparable across countries
 Validation via cognitive/pilot testing
 National stakeholders consulted
 International advisory panel

6. How do What do What What
children use the children do online factors are the outcomes
internet? online? shape their for children?
experience?
Project focus
Opportunities / Benefits /
Usage Activities Risks Harms
Learn Positive content
Where Learning
Create User-generated
content Self-esteem
How Play Sexual content/ Sociality
messages
Meet people Values
Amount Stranger contact
In/excluded
scope
Hang out
Bullying
Coping/resilience
Skills Try new things Personal data
ct
misuse Bothered/upset
Proje
Bully others
Abuse
Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc.

7. How do children use
the internet?

8. % Own bedroom a t home
% At home but not i n own bedroom
Use at home is high
NL 56 44
CZ 63 36
NO 66 33
DE 51 48
AT 48 50
 87% use at DK
CY 62
74
36
24
home
BE 33 65

SI 57 41
% Own bedroom a t home
49% have % At home but not i n own bedroom
SE 68 29
in bedroom FI 58 39
Girls 47 39
IT 62 35
 Privatised
Boys
30
50
55
37 EE
UK
54
52
42
43
use is 9-10 yrs
FR 41 54
growing 11-12 yrs 42 43 BG 61 34
IE 37 56
 SES and
13-14 yrs
15-16 yrs
52
67
34
23
PT
PL
67
63 27
25
age matter
EL 52 35
more than Low SES 41 31
LT 57 29
gender Medium SES 50 40 RO 48 38

ES 42 42
High SES 54 42
National HU 37 44
variation All children 49 38 TR 33 16
ALL 49 38
0 20 40 60 80 100
0 20 40 60 80 100

9. % Handheld device
% Mobile phone but no other handheld device
Mobile access growing
EL 12 66
UK 26 33
DE 19 37
CY 16 39
 12% via
AT
IE
15
23
38
29
handheld NO 31 19
devices SI 8 42
% Handheld device SE 22 26
 33% via mobile
% Mobile phone but no other handheld device
Girls 11 22
BG 4
LT 9
41
35
and/or CZ 6 33
handheld Boys 13 22 DK 17 22
device 9-10 yrs 5 14
PL 5 34
EE 7 31
11-12 yrs 8 21

FI 12 24
Flexible access 13-14 yrs 13 25 NL 15 20
is growing PT 7 26
15-16 yrs 19 28 BE 13 17

FR 13 12
Low SES 8 21
Age and SES HU 2 23
Medium SES 11 24
matter RO 2 18
TR 3 10
High SES 17 23

IT 4 5
National All children 12 22 ES 3 5
variation 0 20 40 60 80 100
ALL 12 22
0 20 40 60 80 100

10. Internet embedded in daily life,
users are getting younger
 60% use every day or almost daily, Girls 85
93% use at least weekly
Boys 91
 88 minutes spent online in an
9-10 yrs 58
average day (see graph) 11-12 yrs 74
13-14 yrs 97
 SES matters especially for daily use:
15-16 yrs 118
67% high SES vs. 52% low SES
Low SES 84
 Age matters also for daily use: Medium SES 91
33% 9-10 yrs vs. 80% 15-16 yrs High SES 87
All children 88
 Children first go online at 9 yrs old:
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
at 7 for 9-10 yrs, at 11 for 15-16 yrs
Minutes per day online

11. Digital skills growing unevenly
100
90
80
70 64 64 63
56 56 52
60 51
50
40 28
30
20
10
8 0
Bookmark a Block Find info on Change Compare Delete Block spam Set filter
7 website messages safety privacy sites records
5,8 settings
6 5,4 5,3
5,1 5,0 5,0 5,0 4,9
4,8 4,7 4,7
5 4,7 4,7 4,5 4,5 4,4
4,6
4,2 4,0 4,2
4 3,8 3,7
3,4 3,4 3,3
3 2,6
2
1
0
FI SI NL EE CZ SE NO PT LT AT UK BG FR DK PL ES BE DE IE CY EL HU RO IT TR ALL

12. “I know more about the
internet than my parents”
% Not true % A bit true % Very true
Girls 34 32 34
Boys 32 31 38
9-10 yrs 63 26 12
11-12 yrs 39 34 28
13-14 yrs 22 34 44
15-16 yrs 13 31 56
Low SES 26 29 46
Medium SES 32 32 36
High SES 40 33 28
All children 33 31 36
0 20 40 60 80 100

13. Some use the internet
to excess
% who have fairly or very often:
 Tried unsuccessfully to spend less time on
the internet - 13%
 Spent less time with friends, family or doing
schoolwork because of the internet – 13%
 Caught myself surfing when not really
interested – 16%
 Felt bothered when I cannot be on the
internet – 11%
 Gone without eating or sleeping because of
the internet – 5%
Graph shows that 30% said yes to one or
more of the above across Europe

14. What do children
do online?

15. Multiple opportunities
Blog 11
Virtual world 16
Create character/avatar 18
File-sharing 18
Chatroom 23
Post messages 31
Use webcam 31
Share photos/music/videos 39
Download music/film 44
Play games (with others) 44
Watch/read news 48
E-mail 61
Use IM 62
Visit SNS 62
Watch video clips 76
Games (alone) 83
Schoolwork 85
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

16. Positive content
“There are lots of things on the internet that are good for children of my age”
 44% say “very true”, 46% say “a bit true”, 10% say “not true”
 Only 34% of 9-10 year olds say “very true”
% Very true % A bit true % Not true
100 4 4 4
6 7 5 5 9 6 6 6 7 9 5 6 8 6
11 10 14 13 10
90 19 20 20
26
80 33 33 37 37 39 40 42 39 43
70 45 46 45 50
42 46 50 48 54 46
48
40 46 53
60
47 49
50 50
40
30 63 61 59 56 56 56 54 52 52 49 49 48 47 46 45
20 44 44 42 41 40 40 44
34 34 32
10 24
0
LT EL BG HU CZ UK AT CY PT PL RO SI DK NL DE IE EE ES BE FI IT FR TR SE NO All

17. Social networking

18. Online communication

19. What online factors
shape children’s
experiences?

20. % Seen sexual images on any w ebsites
% Seen sexual images at all, online or offline
Sexual images off/online
NO 34
46
EE 29
37
FI 29
37
DK 28
42
28
“In the past year, you will have seen lots of different CZ 45
SE 26
images – pictures, photos, videos. Sometimes, these 41
LT 25
might be obviously sexual – for example, showing 42
SI 25
people naked or having sex. Have you seen anything 35
NL 22
of this kind?” 20
39
BG 33

FR 20
30
23% have seen sexual images online or offline RO 19
28
BE 17
33
 Who? More older than younger children
AT
PL
17
15
24
28
Teenage boys 13-16 most likely to see sexual images EL 14
29
online – 24% PT 13
24
TR 13
17
 Where did they see this? 14% online, 12% on
CY
UK
12
11
24
24
television/film/video, 7% in magazines IE 11
23
Most often seen via accidental pop-ups HU 11
17
ES 11
14
 What did they see (11+)? 11% - nudity, 8% - someone
IT
DE 4
7
12
10
having sex, 8% - genitals, 2% - violent sex 14
ALL 23
0 20 40 60 80 100

21. % Been bullied on the internet
% Been bullied at all, online or offline
Bullying off/online
EE 14
43
RO 13
41
DK 12
25
SE 11
28
“Sometimes children or teenagers say or do hurtful or NO 8
31
nasty things to someone and this can often be quite a UK 8
21
few times on different days over a period of time. It can CZ 8
26
include teasing someone in a way the person does not AT 7
28
like; hitting, kicking or pushing someone around; FR 7
26
leaving someone out of things. HU 6
20
Has someone acted in this kind of hurtful or nasty way BE 6
19
to you in the past 12 months?/ Have you been treated in BG 6
21
a hurtful or nasty way on the internet?” PL 6
19
 19% have had someone act in this way, online or offline
FI 5
5
18

LT 19
Who? Few differences by age, gender or social class DE 5
16
CY 5
Teenage girls 13-16 most experience this online – 9% 15

ES 4
16
How? 13% had this happen in person face to face, 6% SI 4
20
had this happen online, 3% by mobile phone calls/texts IE 4
23
4
Most often happens online via SNS or IM NL 14

EL 4
17
What (11+)? 4% - nasty/hurtful messages, 2% - TR 3
11
messages passed around about them, 1% threatened PT 2
9
online IT 2
11
 12% have bullied others at all, 3% online
ALL
0
6
20
19
40 60 80 100

22. % Sent or posted sexual messages
Sending/receiving sexual RO 3
% Seen or received sexual messages
messages online (11+yrs)
22
CZ 10
21
NO 2
20
FR 3
19
“People do all kinds of things on the internet. EE 3
19
Sometimes they may send sexual messages or LT 4
19
12
images. By this, we mean talk about having sex or SE 18
FI 3
images of people naked or having sex. 18
BE 4
18
Have you seen/sent/received/posted a sexual message SI 3
17
(words, pictures or video) of any kind on the AT 4
17
internet?” PL 2
17
2

DE 16
1
15% have seen/received sexual messages online DK 16
NL 1

15
3
3% have sent/posted sexual messages online PT 15
BG 1

14
TR 4
Who? More older (22% 15-16 yrs) than younger teens 14
UK 4

12
CY 3
How? Occurs more by ‘pop up’, IM or SNS 11
EL 2
11
 What? 5% saw other people perform sexual acts, 2% IE
ES
3
1
9
11
were asked to talk about sexual acts online, 2% were HU 1
8
asked for photo/video of genitals IT 1
4
ALL 3
15
0 20 40 60 80 100

23. % Ever gone on to meet anyone face to face that you
first met on the internet
Meeting new people
% Ever had contact w ith someone you have not met
face to face before
EE 25
54
LT 23
52
SE 18
54
16
“Have you ever had contact on the internet with AT 45
15
someone you have not met face to face before? CZ 46
NO 15
49
Have you ever gone on to meet anyone face to face
RO 13
that you first met on the internet in this way?” 32
SI 13
34
 BE 12
30
30% have contact(s) they met online FR 12
32
13% of 9-10 year olds up to 46% of 15-16 year olds FI 12
49
DK 12
42
 9% have met an online contact offline
DE
BG
11
9
31
38
2% of 9-10 year olds up to 16% of 15-16 year olds ES 9
21
8

HU 26
8
More online contacts - more offline meetings PL 25
NL 6
32
 55% who went to a meeting met one or two people this
CY
EL
6
6
14
20
way; 23% met 5+ UK 5
28

PT 5
16
57% of those who went to a meeting met friend of a IE 4
28
friend/family; 48% met a new person IT 4
27
TR 3
18
 Contact first made usually via SNS or IM
ALL
0
9
20
30
40 60 80 100

24. Parental awareness
Among those children who have encountered the particular risk online …
 Seeing sexual images online:
40% of parents are not aware of this, 26% say they don’t know
Parents are least aware when daughters (46%) and
younger children (54% 9-10 and 11-12 year olds) have seen sexual images
online
 Being bullied online:
56% of parents are not aware of this, 15% say they don’t know
Parents are less aware when this involves their 9-10 year olds (65%)
 Receiving sexual message online:
52% of parents are not aware of this; 27% say they don’t know
Parents of younger children, and in higher SES homes, are least aware
 Meeting an online contact offline:
61% of parents are not aware of this, 11% say they don’t know
Parents of younger children, of boys, and in higher SES homes, are less aware

25. What are the
outcomes for
children?

26. From risk to harm?
Seen sexual images on the internet
Bothered after seeing such images
Sexual images
Bothered out of just those that had seen such images
12
Girls 5
39
16
 14% have seen sexual images online
Boys 4
26
5
9-10 yrs 3
 Only 4% (32% of those who saw sexual
8
56
images online) were bothered by this 11-12 yrs 3
42
16
 Girls and younger children less likely to
13-14 yrs 5
32
25
see such images but more likely to be 15-16 yrs 6
24
bothered/upset
12
Low SES 5
 Among those who were bothered, 13
39
Medium SES 4
41% a bit upset, 28% fairly upset, 16% very 30
upset 18
High SES 5
 Still, most got over it straight away
All children 4
14
30
32
0 20 40 60 80 100

27. From risk to harm?
Online bullying
% Very upset % Fairly upset
Among the 6% who have been % A bit upset % Not at all upset
bullied online, on the last time Girls 37 24 26 13
this happened:
Boys 23 23 36 18
 30% were a bit upset, 24% fairly 9-10 yrs 30 17 40 12
upset, 31% very upset
11-12 yrs 32 22 32 14
 Who was more upset? 13-14 yrs 27 30 29 13
Younger, girls, low SES homes
15-16 yrs 34 22 27 17
 How long did this last? Low SES 42 20 28 10
Most (62%) got over it straight
Medium SES 32 25 28 15
away, 31% still upset a few days
later and 6% still upset a few High SES 22 23 36 19
weeks later
All children 31 24 30 15
0 20 40 60 80 100

28. Seen or received sexual messages on the internet
From risk to harm? Bothered after seeing or receiving such messages
Sexual messages Bothered out of just those that had seen or received such
messages
13

Girls 4
33
15% have seen/received sexual
16
messages images online. Boys 3
 But only 4% (25% of those who saw sexual 7
17
messages) were bothered by this 11-12 yrs 3
41a

13
13-14 yrs 3
Girls are more likely than boys to be 25
bothered/upset

22
15-16 yrs 4
Teens more likely to receive such messages 20
but younger children more upset 14
Low SES 5

33
Among those who were bothered, 14
Medium SES 3
47% were a bit upset the last time this 23
happened, 30% were fairly upset, 17
High SES 4
15% were very upset. 21
15
All children

4
25
Still, half got over it straight away
0 20 40 60 80 100

29. Ever gone on to meet anyone face to face that you first met
From risk to harm? on the internet
Bothered in past 12 months after meeting new people
Meeting contacts offline Bothered out of just those that had met new people in past
12 months
8
Girls 1
 9% have met an online contact offline,
Boys 1
9
9
but only 1% were bothered by this 13
2
Or, 11% of those who met an online 9-10 yrs 1
31
contact offline were bothered or upset
4
11-12 yrs 1
 Of those who were bothered in some
13-14 yrs 1
9
19
way, half were ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ upset 10
16

15-16 yrs 1
9
9-10 year olds were more likely to be
6
bothered/upset (31% of those Low SES 1
14
who went to such a meeting) 10
Medium SES 1
12
 Among those bothered by such a meeting, High SES 1
9
8
- 30% met someone older (8% met an adult)
9
All children 1
- 22% had had hurtful things said to them 11
- few said they were hurt physically/sexually 0 20 40 60 80 100

30. Other risks
 21% exposed to potentially harmful user-generated content
 9% experienced personal data misuse
Ways of committing suicide 5 Lost money by
1
being cheated
Talk about or share their
7
experiences of taking drugs
Personal
information
Ways of physically harming or 4
7 used in a way I
hurting themselves didn't like
Ways to be very thin (such as Password used
10
being anorexic or bulimic) to access 7
information
Hate messages that attack certain
12
groups or individuals
One or more
Has seen such material at all on type of data 9
21 misuse
any websites
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100

31. Overall subjective
% My child has been bothered by something online
(parent)
% I have been bothered by something online (child)
harm % There are things online that bother children my age
(child)
10
Girls 13
57
“By bothered, we mean, made you feel 7
Boys 11
uncomfortable, upset, or feel that you 53
shouldn’t have seen it” 6
9-10 yrs 9
40
 55% think there are things online that bother 11-12 yrs
9
11
people their age 57
9
13-14 yrs 12
 12% have been bothered themselves 9
62
15-16 yrs 15
 8% parents say their child has been bothered
Low SES
7
11
59
55
 9-10 year olds less likely to be bothered Medium SES
8
12
53
 More children have been bothered in DK, EE, High SES
11
13
60
NO, SE, RO
8
All children 12
 Fewest say this in IT, PT, DE, FR, CY
0 20 40
55
60 80 100

32. Coping strategies
Just those who encountered the risk and were bothered by it
Who did they tell? What did they do? Online help?
Sexual 53% told someone 26% hoped it would go away 26% deleted
images 33% friend 25% parent 22% tried to fix it messages
9% sibling 3% teacher 9% felt guilty 25% stopped using
the internet
Bullying 77% told someone 24% hoped it would go away 46% blocked person
50% friend 40% parent 36% tried to fix it 41% deleted
12% felt guilty messages
13% sibling 7% teacher
Sexual 60% told someone 22% hoped it would go away 40% blocked person
messages 37% friend 29% parent 27% tried to fix it 38% deleted
6% felt guilty messages
8% sibling 2% teacher
Meeting 70% told s/one first 30% hoped it would go away 37% deleted
contacts 18% tried to fix it messages
52% went with s/one
offline 12% felt guilty 34% blocked person
62% told s/one after

33. More opportunities, more risks
70
% Experienced one or more risk factor
Average for EE
NO
all children LT
SE
60
DK
FI CZ
SI NL
50 AT
RO BG
BE FR
DE
40 UK
IE PL
ES IT HU
TR EL PT CY
30
5 6 7 8 9
Average number of online activities

34. What mediates
children’s online
experiences?

35. Parental mediation
of use and safety

36. Parental restrictions

37. Who suggests ways to use the
internet safely?

38. Sources of advice
(children, parents)

39. Policy implications
Government
Industry
Civil society
Children
Schools Parents

40. Specific recommendations
 Parents - awareness-raising to alert them to the risks their children may
encounter online whilst encouraging parent/child dialogue and understanding.
 Parents’ preferred sources of information on internet safety are the child’s
school, so greater efforts should be undertaken by the education sector.
 Schools - digital skills training needs continued emphasis and updating to
ensure all children reach a minimum standard and to promote creative uses.
 Government (and others) – target resources and guidance where particularly
needed: on ever younger children/newer users and those who are vulnerable.
 Industry - efforts are needed to support awareness, usability and take up of
internet safety tools to support blocking, reporting and filtering.
 Industry - under half 9-16 year olds are very satisfied with online provision,
fewer among young children, more age-appropriate positive content is needed.
 Children, civil society - encourage children to be responsible for their online
behaviour/ safety if possible, promoting empowerment and digital citizenship.

41. Thank you
More at www.eukidsonline.net