Study points to online dangers, complacency
Almost half (43 percent) of parents in Greece do not limit their children’s internet use, according to the results of a study conducted by the Greek Safer Internet Center in November and December last year.
The survey was carried out on a sample of 14,000 children aged between 10 and 17 from 400 schools in Athens, Thessaloniki, Crete, Patra and Larissa.
The results of the survey showed that a significant number of parents are complacent with regard to the dangers that lurk online.
“There are guidelines and advice that parents can implement without having an IT degree,” the head of communications at the center, Katerina Psaroudaki, told Kathimerini.
The study showed that 21 percent of the children said they had experienced online harassment while 61 percent said they had seen violent and other inappropriate content. Another 21 percent said they had met up with someone who they made contact with online and 14 percent said they had shared images and videos online.
“The exchange of very personal images and videos in a teenage relationship is a very common practice as it is something like a confirmation of love,” said Psaroudaki, who added that the actual percentage could be higher as many youngsters were reluctant to admit they exchanged images and video because they filled in the survey questionnaires in the presence of teachers.
More than a third (36 percent) said they use the internet to communicate with their friends, while 33 percent said they go online to watch movies and listen to music. Twenty-four percent said they use the internet to play games.
