Surveys on children's use of the Internet by European Research into Consumer Affairs, the Media Education Institute at the Landesakademie in Lower Austria and E.KAT.O, the Hellenic Consumer Association, Greece under the EU Internet Action Plan 

In all the official languages of the EU

Czech Danish Dutch English Estonian Finnish French German Greek Hungarian Italian Latvian Lithuanian Polish Portuguese Romanian Slovak Slovene Spanish Swedish

Child protection on the Internet

Children are still finding "rude, violent, nasty and upsetting" material on the Internet, mostly by accident, new surveys by European Research into Consumer Affairs in the UK, and Media Education Institute at the Landesakademie show. Three out of four UK kids aged 11 - 14 years find harmful material on-line. But they are starting to recognise safety guidelines like ERICA’s. Surveys conducted over the Spring and Summer with the support of the EU and, in the UK also the Broadcasting Standards Commission, found that over three quarters of children in Austria and over eight out of ten in UK surf the Internet (at least sometimes) alone. 

Of a total 715 in UK and 673 in Austria of 11 - 14 year olds, almost two fifths found nasty sites with a further two out of five in the UK and nearly a third in Austria saying that they had found violent sites. Around two fifths of children in both countries found gambling sites and well over half ‘rude’ ones.

The children themselves think they should be protected. When asked what younger children should be protected from, UK kids said rude pictures (over 80%), violence and gambling (both over three quarters). But less than a third thought they needed to be protected from Internet shopping.  Nearly 60% of the British children had seen guidelines like ERICA’s advising them not to meet people from the Internet etc. But many children were not following the advice to report nasty material. If they told anyone, it was likely to be a friend.

Around a quarter of UK children and a sixth of Austrian had bought something or paid for games or entertainment over the Internet.  Of these, over seven children in ten in UK and nearly three in ten in Austria used their parents' credit cards. In Austria, 16 of these said that they did not have their parent's permission while, in the UK, around one quarter of children said they did it without any help, implying some possible use without permission. 

 A partner survey by EKATO in Greece covered 8 to 15 year olds. In Greece almost three quarters of children say that Internet advertising affects them. In the UK, nearly half said that that they had seen some sites or headlines which made them want to buy.

80% of the Greek children said that they communicate via chat lines. Over two thirds in Austria and 44% in the UK, say that they look for chatrooms on the Internet.

Many of the Austrian children, especially girls, said they had received an invitation to meet someone from the Internet. 

Half of Greek parents admit their children have more knowledge about the Internet than themselves. In Austria, a substantial majority of parents said children's knowledge of computers and Internet was better than theirs.

In Greece, over half of parents said that they have no idea of what their children are capable of on the Internet. In Austria, 6 % of parents said they had no idea what their children do online and a further 14% said that they only partly knew. Greek children under 13 are normally supervised when they are on-line by their parents, unlike the UK and Austrian children. 

In Greece, 60% of parents said that they would like to monitor their children's access to sites on the Internet. In Austria, 42% of parents said that the use of 'walled gardens' for blocking access to some sites was desirable.

Note on the Authors

ERICA is a British based European charity whose mission is to improve life for Europe's consumers, especially the vulnerable. It does so through research leading to action and through consumer education.

The Media Education Institute at the Landesakademie in Lower Austria is a support, research and training institution for parents as well as educators and officials.

EKATO is the Hellenic Consumer Association of Greece.

For further information,

If you would like further information or to purchase the report Children want protection on the Internet: results of the UK schools' survey, please contact Chris Andrew.