ncgm ireland initial findings report complete
TRANSCRIPT
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Initial ndings from Ireland.
Brian ONeill & Thuy Dinh
Initial Findings
from Ireland
February 2014
CO-Funded
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www.netchildrengomobile.eu
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Net ChildrenGo Mobile
Net Children Go Mobile: initial findings from Ireland 3
Net Children Go Mobile: Initial Findings from Ireland
Brian O'Neill, Thuy Dinh
February 2014
Please cite as: ONeill, B. & Dinh, T. (2014). Net Children Go Mobile: initial findings from Ireland. Dublin:
Dublin Institute of Technology.
Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank Giovanna Mascheroni, Kjartan lafsson and
members of the Net Children Go Mobile consortium and Simon Grehan for their assistance in producingthis report. Particular thanks are due to Deirdre McDonnell, Gavin OLeary, Breda Connaughton, PatriciaBrennan and Albert Jordan for their support of the project in Ireland. The support of the Department ofEducation and Skills (Central Policy Unit) is hereby gratefully acknowledged. The project is alsosupported under the National Digital Strategy, Phase 1: Digital Engagement (Department ofCommunications, Energy and Natural Resources).
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Contents
Summary ......................................................6
1. Introduction ..............................................8
1.1 The Net Children Go Mobile study ..........8
1.2 Methods ...................................................8
1.3 Further Reports .......................................8
2. Access and Use .......................................9
2.1 Where children use the internet .............9
2.2 How children access the internet .........11
2.3 Ownership..............................................13
2.4 Age of first use .......................................14
3. Online activities .....................................16
3.1 Types of online activities.......................16
3.2. Smartphone users ................................17
3.3 Social networking and media sharing
platforms .....................................................18
4. Risk and harm ........................................20
4.1 Overall perception of risk and harm.....20
4.2 Bullying ..................................................21
4.3 Sexual messages ...................................22
4.4 Meeting new people ..............................23
4.5 Sexual images........................................23
4.6 Other inappropriate content................ 24
5. Mediation ............................................... 26
5.1 Parents .................................................. 26
5.2 Peers ...................................................... 27
5.3 Teachers ................................................ 28
6. Conclusions ........................................... 29
7. References ............................................ 30
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Summary
Net Children Go Mobile is a two-year research
project funded under the European CommissionsSafer Internet Programme. Seven countriesparticipate: Demark, Italy, Romania, UnitedKingdom, Ireland, Portugal and Belgium.
The project uses quantitative and qualitativemethodologies to investigate access and use,risks and opportunities of mobile internet use.This report presents the initial findings of thesurvey of children and young peoples use ofmobile internet technologies in Ireland. 500 9-16
year olds were interviewed face-to-face in theirhomes. The fieldwork was carried out in Irelandby Ipsos MRBI in November and December 2013.
Access and Use
Smartphones stand out as the most used
device for internet access on a daily basis by9-16 year olds in all contexts. Smartphones(35%) followed by laptops (29%) and tablets
(27%) are the devices most used most to goonline.
Most internet use is, in fact still at home. 63% of children report using the internetseveral times a day or at least once a day athome.
Just under half or 46% of children access the
internet from their own bedroom on a dailybasis, with 22% saying the do so several timesper day.
Over half (53%) of 9-16 year olds say they
never or almost never use the internet in
school. Just 7% of Irish 9-16 year olds childrenreport using the internet in school on a dailybasis.
Internet access while on the move - such as
on the way to school or when out and about
- is still limited. 87% of children say theynever or almost never do this. Three quartersof young people rely exclusively on free wifi
access to go online using their smartphone.
In Ireland, home games consoles are the
device that 9-16 year olds are likely to own
(44%), followed by smartphones (40%), atablet (28%) or a mobile phone that is not asmartphone (27%).
Activities Entertainment uses (listening to music and
watching video clips online) continue to bethe most popular online activities for all agegroups.
The next most popular use of the internet isvisiting a social networking site,especially sofor teenagers for whom it is with listening tomusic the most reported online activity.
Instant messaging (e.g.,Skype, WhatsApp) is
used daily by more than a third of 13-16 year
olds.
9 in 10 of all 15-16 year olds In Ireland have a
profile on a social networking site.Notably,just under 40% of 11-12 year olds also have asocial networking profile despite the agerestriction of 13 for most social networkingservices. There is a steep rise from age 11-12to age 13-14 where use of social networkingmore than doubles.
8 out of 10 children who use social
networking use Facebook as their main
profile.
10% of 15-16 year olds say they use Twitter
as their primary social networking platform.This contrasts with the UK where 1 in 4children say the profile they use most isTwitter.
Over one third of all 9-16 year olds (36%) have
a profile on a media sharing platform. Instagram is the most popular media
sharing platformand is reported by 42% of 9-16 year olds as the media platform they usemost often. This is followed by YouTube(34%).
Risk and Harm
Overall, 1 in 5 children in Ireland (20%) say
that they have been bothered by something
on the internet in the past year , a doubling ofthe figure reported by EU Kids Online in 2011.A quarter of 13-14 year olds and 37% of older
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15-16 year say they have experiencedsomething that bothered them or wished theyhadnt seen.
22% of children have experienced any form
of bullying on- or offline. 13% of 13-14 year
olds say that they have been bullied on asocial networking site. Girls are more likely toexperience bullying than boys (26% for girlscompared to 17% of boys). 20% of girlscompared to 11% of boys say they were upsetby what happened.
One of the risks that young people most
often encounter is seeing potentially
harmful user-generated content.35% of girlsaged 13-16 have encountered some form ofharmful content such as hate messages(15%), anorexic or bulimic content (14%), self-harm sites (9%); sites discussing suicide 8%and sites where people share theirexperiences with drugs (7%).
47% of older teenagers have seen sexual
images in the past 12 months compared to11% of younger children. About half of olderteenagers who had seen sexual images saidthey were upset by the experience.
10% of 13-14 year olds and 22% of 15-16
year olds report having received sexual
messages online. 4% report being 'very' (1%)or 'a little ' (3%) upset as a consequence.
1 in 5 children (22%) have had contact
online with people they have never met face
to face.
Mediation
Most parents are actively involved in guiding
their childrens internet use: suggesting waysto use the internet safely (82%), explainingwhy websites are good or bad (81%),suggesting ways to behave with others online(74%) or talking about what to do ifsomething bothered the child online (69%).
Peers also offer support but mostly in apractical way, with friends helping each otherto do or find something (51% overall or 81%for teenage girls).
Most teachers also suggest ways to use theinternet safely (81%) or explain why somewebsites are good or bad (77%).
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1. Introduction
1.1 The Net Children Go Mobile study
This report provides the first initial findings from
Ireland of the Net Children Go Mobile study. NetChildren Go Mobile is a two-year research projectfunded by the European Commissions SaferInternet Programme. It builds on previousresearch by the EU Kids Online network intochildrens risks and safety online. Currently sevencountries (Italy, Denmark, Romania, UnitedKingdom, Ireland, Portugal and Belgium)participate in the project.
The aim of Net Children Go Mobile is to studychildren and young peoples use of mobileinternet technologies and to examineconsequences they may have for childrens onlinewelfare. Employing both quantitative andqualitative methodologies, the research focusesspecifically on how new mobile conditions ofinternet access and use (smartphones, tablets,other portable devices and use of wifi) bringgreater or lesser risks to childrens online safety.
1.2 Methods
The first phase of the research uses a quantitativesurvey methodology modelled on the original EUKids Online study.1A total sample of 500 childrenbetween the ages of 9 and 16 were interviewed intheir own homes using a standardisedquestionnaire on access, use, risks and safetyfeatures of mobile internet use.
The fieldwork for the research was carried in
November and December 2013 by Ipsos MRBI. Athree-stage random selection method was used inorder to ensure that the sample is representativeof the internet-using population between the agesof 9 and 16 years old. Inclusion criteria consistedof internet-using children with access to a mobileconnected device (iPhone, other smartphone,Blackberry, mobile games console etc.). Protocolsfor parental consent and child were used. Thestudy received ethical approval from the Dublin
1See w w w eukidsonl ine net for a full description ofthe EU Kids Online project and findings.
Institute of Technologys Research EthicsCommittee2as well from the coordinating partnerUniversit Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore (UCSC)Milan A safety leaflet with information aboutWebwise.ie, Childline and the Irish NationalHotline was left with each household interviewed.
In addition to the survey, qualitative interviewsand focus groups are also planned as part of theresearch. Interviews with groups of young people,parents, teachers and youth workers will takeplace during the first quarter of 2014 and will bepresented in a future report from the project.
1.3 Further Reports
This report is published to coincide with SaferInternet Day in Ireland on February 11, 2014.
At the same time, a report with findings from 5European countries (Italy, Denmark, Romania,United Kingdom and Ireland) is also released tocoincide with Safer Internet Day (see Mascheroni,G. & lafsson, K. (2014) Net Children Go Mobile:risks and opportunities.
Full findings from the Irish dataset will be
published in a later report planned for June 2014.In addition, more detailed analysis of thequantitative and qualitative data will beundertaken to explore the different dimensions ofaccess and use, activities, risk and harm, andmediation.
2See:http://dit.ie/researchandenterprise/integrityethicsindit/ethicscommittee/
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2. Access and Use
The proliferation of mobile connected devices hasgreatly expanded children and young peoples
opportunities to go online and access the internetoutside the confines of the home. Research hasshown that the social context of internet accessand use is a major factor in shaping children'sonline experiences (S. Livingstone, Haddon,Grzig, & lafsson, 2011). With mobile, always-onconnectivity, the locations, time spent and waysof using the internet are likely to intensify, creatingnew challenges for parents, educators and policymakers (Haddon, 2013).
The Net Children Go Mobile uses three indicatorsto capture the different contexts of internet accessand use: Location of use: own bedroom at home; at
home but not in own bedroom; at school; inother places such as libraries, cafs andrelatives' or friends' homes; when out andabout or on the way to school and otherplaces.
Frequency of use: several times each day,
daily, at least every week, never or almostnever. Devices used to go online: desktop
computers, laptop computers, mobilephones, smartphones, tablets, otherhandheld devices such as iPod Touch, e-bookreaders and games consoles.
2.1 Where children use the internet
The EU Kids Online survey reported in 2011 that
the locations from which children access theinternet were diversifying (Livingstone et al., 2011).This trend is continuing according to Net ChildrenGo Mobile data. A wider range of devices andincreasing amounts of time spent onlinefacilitates more intensive use of the internet frommore locations than is possible with a fixed lineconnection.
Table 1 shows how often children use the internetat the locations asked about, bearing in mind that
they generally use it in more than one location.
Table 1: How often children use the internetat different places
Several
times
each day
Daily or
almost
daily
At least
every
week
Never or
almost
never
Own bedroom 22 24 14 40
At home but not inown room
25 38 27 10
At school 1 6 40 53
Other places (home
of friends/relatives
libraries, cafs etc.)
3 8 36 53
When out and about,
on the way to school
or other places
2 6 5 87
Q1a-e: Looking at this card, please tell me how often you goonline or use the internet (from a computer, a mobile phone,a smartphone, or any other device you may use to go online)at the following locations.Base: All children who use the internet (Ireland).
Most internet use, as revealed in our data, is infact still at home. 63% of children reportusing the internet several times a day or at
least once a day in a room which is not theirprivate room. This is somewhat higher than awider European average (5 countries) of 59%.
Just under half or 46% of children access the
internet from their own bedroom on a daily
basis,with 22% saying the do so several timesper day. 40% of children say they do not usethe internet in their own bedroom or a privateroom at home.
Going online from school is less common (seebelow) and just over half (53%) say they neveror almost never use the internet in school.
Surprisingly, internet access while on themove - such as on the way to school or whenout and about - is still limited. 87% ofchildren say they never or almost never do
this.
Table 2 shows the distribution of daily internetaccess in the locations asked about by gender,age and country, and helps us to understand inmore detail the changing contexts of internet use
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Table 2: Daily internet use at different placesby age, gender and country
Q1a-e: Looking at this card, please tell me how often you goonline or use the internet (from a computer, a mobile phone,a smartphone, or any other device you may use to go online)at the following locations
Base: All children who use the internet (Ireland)
Daily internet use is strongly differentiated
by age with teenagers having more accesseverywhere. Half of all 9-16 year olds inIreland use the internet on a daily basis risingto three quarters of all teenagers.
Accessing the internet from a young
persons own room is associated more with
teenagers. There is a rapid rise in thedevelopment of a bedroom culture (Sonia
Livingstone & Bober, 2006) from 13 years andupwards. The overall average of own roominternet use is however lower compared tothe five other European countries in the study.
Use of the internet when out and about, evenfor teenagers, is lower than other countries(with the exception of Romania) suggestingthat mobile internet access has yet to makea strong impact on Irish children.
Gender differences in access are minor,though slightly more girls than boys reportaccessing the internet in other places andwhen out and about.
Figure 1 shows the comparison between homeand school access across gender, age groups andcountries.
Figure 1: Comparison between home and
school access
Q1a, Q1b and Q1c: Looking at this card, please tell me howoften you go online or use the internet (from a computer, amobile phone, a smartphone, or any other device you mayuse to go online) at the following locations.Base: All children who use the internet.
Just 7% of Irish 9-16 year olds children
report using the internet in school on a daily
basis. This is the lowest of all 5 countries inthe study. It is below the United Kingdomwhere nearly a third (29%) use the interneteveryday in school and substantially belowDenmark where 61% report daily use of theinternet in school.
The gap between home and school access tothe internet is particularly stark. At a timewhen greater use of technology in educationhas been widely advocated, as has the need
to enhance young peoples digital skills, thelow use of the internet in schools for all agegroups will be of concern to policy makers.
73
81
74
94
79
87
92
62
53
73
73
7
8
11
61
29
16
9
5
1
6
9
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IE
Italy
Romania
Denmark
UK
15-16 yrs
13-14 yrs
11-12 yrs
9-10 yrs
Girls
Boys
% Daily use at school
% Daily use at home (bedroom or elswhere)
Ownbedroom
At home
but not
ownroom
Atschool
Otherplaces
When
out andabout
Boys 48 60 9 9 7
Girls 45 66 6 14 9
9-10 yrs 11 50 1 11
11-12 yrs 31 57 5 3 2
13-14 yrs 77 75 9 17 15
15-16 yrs 77 73 16 14 20
Denmark 77 76 61 38 26
Italy 58 52 8 18 30
Romania 60 40 11 9 8
UK 64 63 29 22 33
IE 46 63 7 11 8
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It is also the case that daily use of the internetby Irish young people remains somewhatbelow other European countries. OnlyDenmark within the current study representsa full integration of internet use both at homeand in school.
2.2 How children access the internetThe shift towards greater smartphone use foronline access and the rise of a post-desktopmedia ecology (Mascheroni & lafsson, 2013) isevident when we look at the devices children useto go online in each of the locations asked about.
Table 3 shows which devices children use on a
daily basis to access the internet in differentplaces.
Table 3: Devices used to go online daily atdifferent places
Own
bedroom
At home
but not
own room
At
school
Other
places
When
out and
about
A desktop
computer (PC)5 14 3 1 N/A
A laptop
computer13 22 2 2 N/A
A mobile
phone9 10 1 2
1
A smartphone 28 31 4 13 9
A tablet 20 24 3 3 0
E-book reader 3 3 0 0 0
Other
handheld
devices
9 11 1 3 1
Home gamesconsoles3
10 12 1 5 0
Access at least
once a day46 63 7 11 8
Q2 a-h When you use the internet these days at , how oftendo you usethe following devicesto goonline?Base: All children who use the internet (Ireland).
Smartphones stand out as the most used
3 The questionnaire asked about the use of home gamesconsoles but the fact that 8% of respondents say that they
use home game consoles when out and about might bothreflect the ambiguous meaning of that phrase or that somerespondents are thinking about portable versions of devicesthat mostly are used in the home
device for internet access on a daily basis by
9-16 year olds in all contexts.
In a domestic context, just under 60% usetheir smartphone to go online at least daily. Itis also the device most used to go online in
other locations. Other portable connected devices include
tablets which are the next most used device
in the home by (44%);home games consoles(22%); and other handheld devices such asiPod Touch (20%).
Nearly a third (28%) also use a smartphone
for internet access in the privacy of their
own room.
Laptop computers are also used on a dailybasis by a significant number of children. 35%of children use a laptop at home compared
to the 19% who use a desktop PC on a dailybasis.
Table 4 shows how daily use of different devicesvaries by age and gender.
Table 4: Daily use of devices by age andgender
9-12 years 13-16 years
Boys Girls Boys Girls All
A desktop
computer
(PC)
22 7 22 25 18
A laptop
computer19 30 36 30 29
A mobile
phone that is
not asmartphone
3 7 24 22 13
A smartphone 20 19 44 61 35
A tablet 29 21 24 33 27
E-book reader 7 2 3 3 4
Other
handheld
devices
7 10 21 16 13
Home games
consoles
28 2 43 3 18
Q2 a-h When you use the internet these days at , how oftendo you usethe following devicesto goonline?Base: All children who use the internet (Ireland)
Smartphones (35%) followed by laptops
(29%) and tablets (27%) are the devicesmost used most to go online. Desktop
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computers now fall into joint fourth place fordaily internet access along with home gamesconsoles (18%) underlining the shift to a post-desktop ecology.
Daily smartphone use is particularly
associated with age with a notable increasein use for teenagers from 20% to 44% for
teenage boys and 61% for teenage girls.
Certain devices are seemingly highlygendered such as home games consoleswhich, unsurprisingly, are almost exclusivelyfor boys. By contrast, teenage girls usesmartphones and tablets more.
Figure 2 compares the daily use of smartphonesand laptop computers by age, gender andcountry.
Figure 2: Daily use of smartphones andlaptops by gender, age and country
Q2b and Q2d When you use the internet these days at ,how often do you usethe following devicesto goonline?Base: All children who use the internet
Daily use of either smartphones or laptops is
differentiated by age with use for eachsteadily rising through each age group.
Of the two, smartphones are the most usedfor daily internet use. With the exception of9-10 year olds, all other children and young
people are more likely to use theirsmartphones than use a laptop to go online.
Average daily use of smartphones is at thelower end of the spectrum of the 5 countriessurveyed. Findings for older teens howeverare closer to the norm.
Price structures and packages for mobile internetaccess vary widely across the five countries in thesurvey. Table 5 examines the different kinds of
services used by young people in Ireland toconnect to the internet.
Table 5: Ways of connecting to the internetfrom mobile phones/smartphones by age,gender and country
% Mobile
web
package
and free
wifi
% Mobile
web
package
only
%
Free
wifi
only
% Phone
does not
connect to
the
internet
Boys 4 7 67 21Girls 5 7 81 7
9-10 yrs N/A N/A 73 27
11-12 yrs 2 3 73 22
13-14 yrs 5 9 79 6
15-16 yrs 8 11 70 11
Denmark 36 19 21 23
Italy 51 14 28 7
Romania 32 24 18 26
UK 15 24 20 41
IE 5 7 75 14
Q8 a-c Are you able to connect to the internet from yoursmartphone / mobile phone and if so, how do you connect?
Base: All children who own or have for private use a mobilephone or a smartphone (Ireland)
Three quarters of young people rely
exclusively on free wifi access to go online
using their smartphone. Few use mobile webpackages or incur data charges for onlineaccess.
This contrasts sharply with the other countriesin the survey where there is much wider use ofmobile web packages in combination withwifi.
While there is little difference between agegroups in the use of free wifi, gender stands
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3. Online activities
Research has shown that young peoples onlineactivities tend to follow a ladder of opportunities
(Sonia Livingstone, Haddon, Gorzig, & lafsson,2011), progressing from basic activities such asdoing schoolwork and playing games to using theinternet interactively for communications and formore advanced and creative uses.
EU Kids Online data for Ireland has shown thatOnline activities for 9-16 year olds in Ireland fallsubstantially below European norms leavingmany opportunities unexplored with over half(57%) not going beyond information and
entertainment activities (ONeill & Dinh, 2012a).Net Children Go Mobile asked children aged 9-16about their online activities in order to trackchanges since the last survey in Ireland (ONeill,Grehan, & lafsson, 2011)and to assess how therange of activities may vary with greater mobileand convergent media use.
3.1 Types of online activities
Table 9 shows how many children do each of arange of activities, by age and gender.
Entertainment uses (listening to music and
watching video clips online) continue to be
the most popular online activities for all age
groups.
The next most popular use of the internet is
visiting a social networking site, especially sofor teenagers for whom it is with listening tomusic the most reported online activity.
Instant messaging (e.g.,Skype, WhatsApp) is
used daily by more than a third of 13-16 year
olds.
Using the internet for schoolwork on a dailybasis is relatively low but is consistent withthe low usage of the internet in schoolsreported in this survey.
Table 9: Daily online activities (all types ofaccess) by age and gender
9-12 years 13-16 years
% Children who Boys Girls Boys Girls All
Listened to music 31 32 65 78 50
Watched video clips (e.g.
on YouTube, iTunes,Vimeo, etc.)
40 27 56 75 49
Visited a social
networking profile14 11 68 76 40
Checked information or
satisfied your curiosity
when something
interested you
19 14 28 45 26
Played games on your
own or against the
computer
24 20 36 12 23
Used instant messaging 10 10 35 38 22
Used the internet for
schoolwork 11 6 28 39 20Downloaded free Apps 11 16 15 21 16
Downloaded music or
films5 6 19 31 15
Used file sharing sites 4 11 8 24 12
Played games with other
people on the internet11 2 28 7 11
Watched broadcast
television / movie online4 6 14 15 10
Published photos, videos
or music to share with
others
1 5 7 29 10
Read/watched the news
on the internet 5 2 8 17 8
Published a message on
a website or a blog1 8 7 13 7
Looked up maps /
timetables5 1 7 16 7
Visited a chatroom 1 2 3 16 5
Read an ebook 6 2 3 10 5
Registered my
geographical location2 5 10 4
Used a webcam 1 8 1 6 4
Created a character, pet
or avatar2 8 2 1 3
Spent time in a virtualworld 2 3 2 1 2
Bought things online 1 3 4 2
Purchased Apps 1 1 1 1
Read QR codes/scan
barcodes1
Q9a-d, 10a-e, 11a-e, 12a-k For each of the things I read out,please tell me how often you have done it in the past month.Base: All children who use the internet (Ireland)
Gender differences in activities undertakenare interesting: teenage girls typically domore than boys in all categories with theexception of gaming which is highly gendered
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and male-dominated activity.
Activities that are typical of, though notexclusive to, mobile convergent media suchas downloading free apps (16%) or using geo-location (4%), purchasing apps (1%) or
reading QR codes (
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3.3 Social networking and media sharingplatforms
Social networking is one of the most popularactivities undertaken up by children on a dailybasis. Children who also use a smartphone or
other mobile device are more likely to engage insocial networking on a daily basis.
Figure 5 presents findings on the number ofchildren who have one or more profile on socialnetwork sites.
Figure 5: Children with a SNS profile bygender, age and country
Q16 a-f Do you have your own profile on a social networkingsite(e.g. Facebook, Twitter, etc.) that you currently use and ifyou have a profile/account, do you have just one or morethan one?Base: All children who use the internet (Ireland)
As shown in Figure 5, 54% of children inIreland have at least one profile on a social
networking site.
Use of social networking sites is strongly
associated with age. Fewer younger childrenhave a profile on a social networking site.There is a steep rise from age 11-12 to age
13-14 where use of social networking more
thandoubles.
Gender differences are not particularlyevident though slightly more girls than boysare active on social media.
There is considerable variation betweencountries, principally due to differences in use
of social networking among younger users(see below). For older teenagers, socialnetworking activity is almost universal in allcountries.
Table 11 looks more closely at the use of socialnetworking by age in each of the five countries inthe Net Children Go Mobile survey.
Table 11: Children with a profile on SNS bycountry and by age
9-10 yrs 11-12 yrs 13-14 yrs 15-16 yrs
Denmark 41 81 98 99
Ireland 14 39 83 91
Italy 15 52 90 93
Romania 50 80 86 92
UK 19 35 73 88
All 28 57 85 93
Q16 a-f Do you have your own profile on a social networkingsite(e.g. Facebook, Twitter, etc.) that you currently use and ifyou have a profile/account, do you have just one or morethan one?
Base: All children who use the internet
9 in 10 of all 15-16 year olds in Ireland have a
profile on a social networking site. Notably,
just under 40% of 11-12 year olds also have a
social networking profile despite the age
restriction of 13 for most social networking
services.
The lower diffusion of social networking inIreland, Italy and the UK is mainly due tolower rates of underage use in thesecountries.
With considerable attention given to the issueof underage use of social network sites, theevidence would suggest that such
campaigns are beginning to have an effect.
Figure 6 shows which social networking profile ismost used by children, by gender and age.
54
64
79
81
58
91
83
39
14
5750
0 20 40 60 80 100
IE
Italy
Romania
Denmark
UK
15-16yrs
13-14yrs
11-12yrs
9-10yrs
GirlsBoys
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Figure 6: Which social networking profile isthe one children use most by gender, ageand country
Q17 What social network is the profile/account that you usethe most on?Base: All children who use SNS (Ireland).
Facebook is still the social network site thatchildren are most likely to use with smallvariations by age and gender. 8 out of 10children who use social networking use
Facebook as their main profile.
7% of children overall and 10% of 15-16 yearolds say they use Twitter as their primary
social networking platform.
This contrasts with the UK where 1 in 4
children say the profile they use most is
Twitter. The popularity of Twitter varies bygender, age and country, and is higher amongboys (though girls in Ireland), teenagers, andespecially UK children. See (Mascheroni &lafsson, 2014)for further details.
Younger children use a diverse range of otherservices (not specified), presumably referringto services designed for their age group.
Given the ease with which smartphones and othermobile devices can be used to create, capture andupload media content, we also asked children ifthey have a profile on a media sharing platformsuch as YouTube, Instagram or Flickr.
Figure 7 shows the number of children with anaccount on one of these platforms by gender andage.
Figure 7: Children with a profile on a mediasharing platform by gender and age
Q23 a-f Do you have your own profile/account on a mediasharing platform (photo and video) such as YouTube,Instagram, Flickr, that you currently use and if you have aprofile/account, do you have just one or more than one?Base: All children who use the internet
Over one third of all 9-16 year olds (36%)
have a profile on a media sharing platform.Use of such platforms is associated with ageand rises from a third of 11-12 year olds tohalf of all 13-14 year olds.
As with social networking, gender differencesare slight with somewhat more girls likely toreport a profile on a media sharing platform.
Instagram is the most popular media
sharing platform and is reported by 42% of
9-16 yearolds as the platform they use mostoften. This is followed by YouTube (34%). Afurther 25% use other media sharing services.
82
87
85
74
48
79
85
7
10
5
6
10
8
6
11
3
10
20
43
13
9
0 20 40 60 80 100
IE
15-16yrs
13-14yrs
11-12yrs
9-10yrs
Girls
Boys
Facebook Twitter Other
36
56
49
29
17
38
34
0 20 40 60
IE
15-16yrs
13-14yrs
11-12yrs
9-10yrs
Girls
Boys
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4. Risk and harm
Online risky experiences reported by children, asevidenced by the EU Kids Online survey
(Livingstone et al., 2011), do not necessarily resultin harm. Experiences of risk are an inherent part ofgrowing up, learning resilience and gaining moreskills. As argued by EU Kids Online, it is childrenwho have less exposure to both opportunities andrisks that tend to be more bothered when theyhave a negative experience online (Hasebrink,Grzig, Haddon, Kalmus, & Livingstone, 2011).
In order to measure the incidence of online risksand harm, we asked children who use the internet
if they have "seen or experienced something on theinternet that has bothered them in some way",where bothered was defined as something thatmade you feel uncomfortable, upset, or feel that
you shouldnt have seen it. Additionally, childrenwere asked if they had encountered a range ofonline risks and, then, if they had been botheredby these.
The measurement of risky and harmful online
experiences largely draws on the EU Kids Onlineframework and methodology (Livingstone et al.,2011). Similarly, harm was measured subjectivelyin terms of the severity of children's responses toonline risky experiences.
Continuities with the EU Kids Online project werealso ensured both at the level of theadministration of the survey and in the design ofthe questionnaire. In order to maximise thequality of child's answer and ensure their own
privacy, the survey was conducted face-to-face inthe home, but sensitive questions were self-completed by the child. The wording of thequestionnaire was refined on the basis ofcognitive testing with children of different age-groups and gender in each country, in order toensure children's comprehension and avoidadults' terminology (like 'sexting'). Furthermore,particularly emotive terms, such as 'stranger' or'bullying' were also avoided.
4.1 Overall perception of risk and harm
Children were asked "In the past 12 months, haveyou seen or experienced something on theinternet that has bothered you in some way? Forexample made you feel uncomfortable, upset, orfeel that you shouldnt have seen it".
Figure shows children's accounts of problematicexperiences by age and gender.
Figure 8: Online experiences that havebothered children by age and gender
Q30 In the PAST 12 MONTHS, have you seen or experiencedsomething on the internet that has bothered you in someway? For example made you feel uncomfortable, upset, orfeel that you shouldnt have seen it.Base: All children who use the internet (Ireland).
Overall, 1 in 5 children in Ireland (20%) say
that they have been bothered by something
on the internet in the past year. While it isstill a minority of children, this is almostdouble the percentage (11%) reported by 9-
16 year olds in for the EU Kids Online survey(ONeill et al., 2011).
More girls (23%) report being bothered than
boys (16%).The youngest children, aged 9-10years, are the least likely to have beenbothered by something online (9%) comparedwith older teenagers.
A quarter of 13-14 year olds and 37% of 15-
16 year olds say they have experienced
something that bothered them or wished
they hadnt seen.
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4.2 Bullying
Being bullied online is one of a number ofconduct risks that has attracted much attentionand given rise to considerable public concern. Inorder to avoid any emotive connotations and
maintain consistency with previous definitionsused by EU Kids Online, bullying was defined inthis survey as follows:
Sometimes children or teenagers say or do hurtful
or nasty things to someone and this can often be
quite a few times on different days over a period of
time, for example. This can include: teasing
someone in a way this person does not like; hitting,
kicking or pushing someone around; leaving
someone out of things.
Following this introduction, children were askedwhether: someone has acted in this kind of hurtfulor nasty way to you in the past 12 months. In orderto gauge the severity of the impact, children werethen asked how upset they had been when theyexperienced this conduct.
Figure shows that 22% of children haveexperienced any form of bullying on- or offline.
16% say they were 'very' (6%) or 'a little upset'
(10%) by what happened.
Girls are more likely to experience bullying
than boys (26% for girls compared to 17% of
boys). Girls are more likely to be upset bywhat happened: 20% of girls compared to11% of boys say they were upset by what
happened.
The impact of age is noteworthy. Theyoungest age group of 9-10 years and 13-14
year olds experience the most bullying (27%in each age group).
It is the youngest age group who report thehighest rates of harm with 18% of 9-10 yearolds saying they were very upset by what
happened.
Figure 9: Child has been bullied online oroffline in past 12 months
Q32 In the PAST 12 MONTHS, has someone treated you in thiskind of way and if so, how upset were you about happened?
Base: All children who use the internet (Ireland).
Bullying can occur in many ways. Table 12 showsthe ways in which children have actually beenbullied.
In this survey, more bullying takes placeacross a variety of internet locations than
happens face-to-face.
5% of young people overall but 13% of 13-14
year olds say that they have been bullied on
a social networking site. This compares with6% of children overall who report that they
were bullied face-to-face in the past twelve
months.
Gaming websites (3%), instant messaging
(2%) and mobile phone calls (2%) are the
other most common forms of cyberbullying.
6
1
3
2
18
5
7
10
8
16
7
8
15
4
6
7
8
6
2
6
6
78
84
73
85
73
74
83
IE
15-16yrs
13-14yrs
11-12yrs
9-10yrs
Girls
Boys
Yes, I was very upset
Yes, I was a little upset
Yes, but I was not at all upsetNo, I haven't experienced this
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Table 12: Ways in which children have beenbullied in past 12 months, by age
Age Gender
9-
10
11-
12
13-
14
15-
16Boys Girls All
Face to face 7.1 4.5 7.8 4.5 6.9 5.5 6.2By mobile phone
calls
5 1.1 3.2 0.4 1.6
By messages sent
to me on my
phone (SMS, text
or MMS)
1.4 1.1 0.4 0.8 0.6
On a social
working site
12.9 9 1.2 9.0 5.2
On a media
sharing platform
3.5 1.1 0.4 2.3 1.2
By instant
messaging
4.3 2.1 3.2 0.4 1.8
In a chat room 0By email 0
On a gaming
website
6.4 0.8 0.7 4.5 2.4 3.5 3
On a question
answer app/
platform (e.g.
Ask.fm)
1.4 0.8 0.4 0.4
By a message
using Snapchat
0
Q33 If someone has treated you in this kind of way, how did ithappen? Multiple responses allowed.Base: All children who use the internet
Age differences are notable: the youngestchildren aged 9-10 are more likely to report
being bullied face-to-face or on a gaming
website (7% and 6% respectively).
By contrast among teenagers (13-14 and 15-
16 years old) cyberbullying is more likely to
occur on a social networking platform.
Gender differences are also noteworthy:somewhat more boys than girls report beingbullied face to face, by mobile phone callsand by instant messaging. In the case of socialnetworking, however, girls are much morelikely to report being bullied.
Despite the controversy that has attached toquestion and answer apps such as Ask.fm,only a small number (less than 2% of 13-14year olds) report being bullied on such a
platform.
4.3 Sexual messages
Use of the internet for the exchange of sexualmessages, whether in the context of a romanticrelationship or more negatively as a form of cyber
bullying is a topic that has received increasedattention (Lenhart, 2009). In keeping with the EUKids Online survey, this practice, more commonlylabelled sexting, was defined as follows: "sexualmessages or images. By this we mean talk about
having sex or images of people naked or having
sex. Here are some questions about this. Think
about any way in which you use the internet and
your mobile phone/smartphone".
Respondents were then asked: "In the past 12
months, have you received sexual messages of thiskind (this could be words, pictures or videos) and if
so, how upset were you about happened? Think
about any way in which you use the internet and
your mobile phone/smartphone."4 For ethicalreasons, this question was not asked of 9-10 yearsold.
Figure 10 shows how children answered thisquestion by gender and age:
Overall, 11% of children have received sexualmessages of any kind, and 4% report being
'very' (1%) or 'a little ' (3%) upset as a
consequence. 7% of boys and a similarproportion of girls say they were not upset bythe experience.
While the numbers saying they had beenupset are small, girls rather than boys weremore likely to say that they had been upset bythe experience.
Receiving sexual messages increases with age:while just 4% of children aged 11-12 are likelyto say they have received messages of thiskind, 10% of 13-14 year olds and 22% of 15-16 year olds report having received such
messages.
4 Compared to the EU Kids Online survey, the question was
rephrased: while the original question asked children if theyhave "seen or received sexual messages" we excluded theword seen as potentially misleading (it was thought to leadto potential confusion with sexual images.
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Figure 10: Child has received sexualmessages online in past 12 months (age 11+)
Q42 In the PAST 12 MONTHS, have you received sexualmessages of this kind (this could be words, pictures orvideos) and if so, how upset were you about happened?Base: All children aged 11-16 who use the internet.
4.4 Meeting new people
An area for concern for parents and carers is who
their children may come into contact with online.Stranger danger is one formulation of this andhas led to considerable anxiety that youngpeople's online communication may encouragethem to meet contacts offline and end up beingabused in a face-to face encounter. Previousresearch has shown, however, that the risk ofharm from face-to-face contact with someonemet online is low (Livingstone et al., 2011).
In the EU Kids Online survey (2011), it wasrevealed many children do make contact withpeople online they do not know offline and thatthis results from the inherent social nature ofonline communication. Net Children Go MobileOne follows this approach and asked children ifthey ever had contact on the internet (on allplatforms/devices) with someone they had notmet face to face before. Figure 11 shows thenumber of children in Ireland who have in been incontact on the internet with people they have
never met face to face before, by age and gender.
Figure 11: Child has been in contact withsomeone not met face to face before
Q37 In the PAST 12 MONTHS, have you ever had contact onthe internet (on all platforms/devices) with someone you hadnot met face to face before? This could have been by email,chat rooms, social networking sites, instant messaging orgaming sites.Base: All children who use the internet.
1 in 5 children (22%) have had contact
online with people they have never met face
to face.
More boys than girls report being in contactwith people they do not know offline. The agetrend is also marked: contact with people metonline increases with age, ranging from 13%of children aged 9-10 years old to 38% of
teenagers aged 15-16.
However, contact with people met online is not,per se, negative or risky: rather, it often provideschildren with an opportunity to share interestsand hobbies. Moreover, not every online contactleads to an offline encounter, and, moreimportantly, not every face-to-face meeting with
someone met on the internet has harmfulconsequences. In the case of Ireland, fewer than4% had gone to meet someone offline they firstmet online.
4.5 Sexual images
Previous research by EU Kids Online revealed that1 in 4 children has come across pornographiccontent, and just 14% have accidentally or
intentionally encountered sexual images online(Livingstone et al., 2011). The data also showedthat, while seeing sexual images is more commonamong boys and older teenagers, younger
1
1
1
3
13
4
6
7
9
9
7
7
89
78
90
96
86
92
IE
15-16yrs
13-14yrs
11-12yrs
Girls
Boys
Yes, I was very upset
Yes, I was a little upset
Yes, but I was not at all upset
No, I haven't experienced this
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children and girls are more likely to be botheredfrom what they have encountered.
Drawing on the EU Kids Online methodology,questions about pornography were introduced inthe Net Children Go Mobile Study in the following
way. "In the past year, you will have seen lots ofdifferent images pictures, photos, videos.
Sometimes, these might be obviously sexual for
example, showing people having sex, or naked
people in sexy poses5. You might never have seen
anything like this, or you may have seen something
like this on a mobile phone, in a magazine, on the
TV, on a DVD or on the internet, on whatever device
you use to go online".
Figure 12 shows how seeing sexual images on andoffline varies by gender, age and country
Figure 12: Child has seen sexual imagesonline or offline in past 12 months
Q35 In the PAST 12 MONTHS, have you seen anything of thiskind and if so, how upset were you by what you saw?Base: All children who use the internet age 11-16.
5 The original text in the EU Kids Online questionnairestated: "In the past year, you will have seen lots ofdifferent images pictures, photos, videos. Sometimes,these might be obviously sexual for example,showing people naked or people having sex". Wechanged it into "naked people in sexy poses" becausethe cognitive testing and the researchers' experiencesuggested that naked images are not necessarilyassociated with pornographic material in all countries.
Overall, 21% of children say that they have
seen sexual images in the past 12 months,
whether online or offline.
Seeing sexual images is primarily related toage: 47% of older teenagers have seen
sexual images in the past 12 monthscompared to 11% of younger children.
Of those who have seen sexual content on oroffline, 8% of children (or less than half ofthose who encountered sexually explicit
images) were bothered by this experience.
While, as we have seen, girls and boys areequally exposed to sexual images, girls aremore likely to be 'very' (3%) or 'a little' (7%)
upset by what they have seen.
About half of older teenagers who had seen
sexual images said they were upset by the
experience. The proportion of those harmedrises with younger age groups: as many wereupset as not upset among 11-12 year olds,rising to a proportion of 3 to 1 who had beenupset among 9-10 year olds.
4.6 Other potentially harmful content
Web 2.0 has enabled the uploading and sharing of
vast amounts of so-called user generatedaccount (UGC). While much user generatedcontent offers new opportunities for creativeexpression and is an essential component ofdigital literacy, some UGC may be problematic,harmful or age-inappropriate for younger viewers.
EU Kids Online reported in 2011 that exposure topotentially harmful content was a commonexperience for children (Livingstone et al., 2011)though it has received less attention among policymakers and researchers than bullying, sexting,meeting strangers and pornography.
In the Net Children Go Mobile survey, we askedchildren: "In the past 12 months, have you seenwebsites where people..." For ethical reasons, thisquestion was not been addressed to 9-10 yearolds.
Table 10 presents an overview of the kinds of
problematic content children have come across,and how this varies by age. Overall, 21% ofchildren report seeing potentially harmful UGC
online making this one of the most common
2
1
2
3
2
3
2
6
14
1
4
6
7
4
13
32
18
7
3
13
14
79
53
79
86
89
78
80
IE
15-16yrs
13-14yrs
11-12yrs
9-10yrs
Girls
Boys
Yes, I was very upset
Yes, I was a little upset
Yes, but I was not at all upset
No, I haven't experienced this
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risks that children encounter.
The most common type of negative content
which children report encountering is hate
and discriminatory messages (15%) and
anorexic or bulimic content (14%).
Other forms of harmful content which youngpeople encounter include: self-harm sites(9%); sites discussing suicide 8%; and sites
where people share their experiences with
drugs (7%)
Seeing negative user generated increases withage: 16% of children aged 11-12 years haveencountered one or more of the content listedcompared with 23% of 13-16 year olds.
Teenage girls report encountering harmfulcontent the most: 35% of girls aged 13-16have encountered one of the forms of
content listed.
Table 10: Child has seen potentially harmfuluser-generated content on websites in past12 months, by age(age 11+)
11-12 years 13-16 years% Seen websites in
past 12 months
where people... Boys Girls Boys Girls All
Discuss ways ofphysically harming
or hurting
themselves
6 2 5 17 9
Discuss ways of
committing suicide9 5 14 8
Promote eating
disorders (such as
being very skinny,
anorexic or bulimic)
19 11 3 21 14
Publish hate
messages that
attack certain
groups orindividuals
14 6 11 23 15
Talk about or share
their experiences of
taking drugs
10 2 5 9 7
Has seen such
material at all on
any websites
17 15 12 35 21
Q44 In the PAST 12 MONTHS, have you seen websites wherepeople discussBase: All children who use the internet age 11-16.
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5. Mediation
The final section of this short report deals withmediation. Mediation in this context refers to the
different ways that parents, teachers and peersmonitor, guide or otherwise support youngpeoples internet use. It may take a variety offorms ranging from actively engaging with thechilds use of the internet, promoting safe andresponsible internet use, regulating the amount oftime spent online or restricting through technicalmeans the kinds of activities undertaken.
Previous research has shown that Ireland haspracticed high levels of restrictive mediation,including setting rules and regulating time spentonline, location of use and online activities(ONeill & Dinh, 2012b). Ireland is included in thecluster of countries classified by EU Kids Online asprotected by restrictions indicating that there isscope for developing more active forms ofmediation of safety and internet use (Helsper,Kalmus, Hasebrink, Sagvari, & Haan, 2013).
5.1 ParentsTable 11 shows the different forms of activemediation of internet use, as reported by children,and variations by age and gender.
Nearly three quarters of parents talk to their
children about what they do on the internet
(71%), making this the most popular way toactively mediate childrens internet use.
Most children also say that their parents stay
nearby while they are online (64%). Other strategies such as sitting with the child
while he/she is online or doing sharedactivities are adopted by about a third ofparents.
Active mediation is structured by age, withparents engaging in considerably more activemediation of younger childrens use of theinternet.
Gender differences are smaller. However, inthe case of teenage girls, parents appear tobe considerably more involved than with
teenage boys.
Table 11: Parents active mediation of thechilds internet use, by age and gender
9-12 years 13-16 yearsDo your parents
sometimes: Boys Girls Boys Girls All
Talk to you about
what you do on the
internet
79 79 46 77 71
Sit with you while
you use the internet48 50 16 24 36
Stay nearby while
you use the internet80 80 37 51 64
Encourage you to
explore and learn
things on the
internet on your
own
63 42 29 40 44
Do shared activities
together with you on
the internet
49 38 20 20 33
Q53 Does your parent / do either of your parents>sometimesBase: All children who use the internet.
Parents mediation of children's internet safety isshown in Table 12:
Table 12: Parents active mediation of the
childs internet safety, by age and gender9-12 years 13-16 yearsHave parents ever
done: Boys Girls Boys Girls All
Helped you when
something is
difficult to do or find
on the internet
89 82 51 65 73
Explained why some
websites are good or
bad
84 86 68 83 81
Suggested ways to
use the internet
safely
88 82 67 86 82
Suggested ways to
behave towards
other people online
73 73 66 81 74
Helped you in the
past when
something has
bothered you on the
internet
49 46 37 56 47
In general, talked to
you about what you
would do if
something on the
internet ever
bothered you
67 72 51 84 69
Q54 Has your parent / have either of your parents ever doneany of the following things with you?Base: All children who use the internet.
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According to the children interviewed, mostparents suggest ways to use the internet
safely (82%) and explain why websites are
good or bad (81%).
Many also take an active role in suggesting
ways to behave with others online (74%) ortalked about what to do if something
bothered the child online (69%).
Age and gender differences are noteworthy:younger children receive considerably more
support than teenagers, especially boys.
Teenage girls, as above, in general receive
more support than teenage boys.
5.2 Peers
Peer support also plays a crucial role in mediationof internet safety. Previous research from EU KidsOnline shows that young people will often turn totheir friends for support when they experience aproblem online.
Table 13 shows how peers engage in active
mediation of children's internet safety, by age andgender:
Most peer support takes the form of offering
support in a practical way, with friendshelping each other when something is difficultto do or find something (51% overall or 81%for teenage girls).
By contrast, peers are less likely to givesafety advice or to help cope with a negative
online experience. Just a quarter of peers
suggest ways to use the internet safely.
Teenage girls do tend to offer more support.58% suggest ways to behave to others
online and 45% suggest ways to use the
internet safely.
Table 13: Friends active mediation of childsinternet safety, by age and gender
9-12 years 13-16 years
Have friends ever: Boys Girls Boys Girls All
Helped you when
something is
difficult to do or findon the internet
48 45 64 81 59
Explained why some
websites are good or
bad
15 23 32 46 28
Suggested ways to
use the internet
safely
12 18 30 45 26
Suggested ways to
behave towards
other people online
14 30 39 58 34
Helped you in the
past when
something hasbothered you on the
internet
21 20 40 54 32
In general, talked to
you about what you
would do if
something on the
internet ever
bothered you
13 22 35 66 33
Q58 Have your friends ever done any of these things? Pleasesay yes or no to each of the following...Base: All children who use the internet.
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5.3 Teachers
Finally, teachers, it is widely recognised, play apivotal role in supporting young peoples internetuse and teaching principles of internet safety.
Table 14 provides an overview of the ways inwhich teachers are reported by children to havesupported their internet use.
Table 14: Teachers active mediation of thechilds internet safety, by age and gender
9-12 years 13-16 years
Have teachers ever: Boys Girls Boys Girls All
Talked to you about
what you do on the
internet
66 82 67 76 73
Helped you when
you found
something difficult
to do or find on the
internet
52 57 53 49 53
Explained why some
websites are good or
bad
74 87 75 74 77
Suggested ways to
use the internet
safely
72 86 78 88 81
Suggested ways to
behave towards
other people online
65 75 75 91 76
Made rule about
what you can do on
the internet at
school
53 77 80 82 72
Helped you in the
past when
something has
bothered you on the
internet
22 20 19 30 23
In general, talked to
you about what you
would do if
something on the
internet ever
bothered you
51 62 59 75 61
Question 59: Have your teacher ever . (Multiple responsesallowed)Base: All children who use the internet.
Most teachers do suggest ways to use the
internet safely (81%), explain why some
websites are good or bad (77%) and talk tochildren about what they do on the internet.
Teenage girls, whether as a result of negative
experiences they have had online, or becauseof their more active role in social networking,again receive more support than teenageboys.
91% of teenage girls say that teachers have
suggested ways of behaving towards others
online.
Setting rules about what you can do on theinternet in school is mentioned by 81% ofteenagers.
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6. Conclusions
The first preliminary findings from the NetChildren Go Mobile project reveal a changing
landscape for childrens internet access and use inIreland with some marked changes in patterns ofrisk and safety. Since the publication of EU KidsOnline data on childrens experiences online in2011, internet use has continued to intensify withyoung people going online, using the internetmore intensively and notably shifting towardsmore mobile and privatised contexts of use.
The shift to a post-desktop media ecology isremarkable and confirms the speed at which new
technologies and portable connected deviceshave come to dominate use of the internet. Thefact that young peoples experience of the internetis now predominantly a mobile one, mediated bythe use of smartphones, creates a very differentenvironment in which parents, carers andeducators need to consider how to best supportchildrens and young peoples safe andresponsible use of the internet.
From the evidence in this study, parents andteachers are taking an active interest in guidingchildrens internet use, speaking to them abouthow to behave towards others online andexplaining why some websites are good or bad.This is an important development given that themajority of childrens internet use now takes placeaway from adult supervision. At the same, internetsafety education needs to take account of thesechanged contexts of use and focus on the kinds ofrisks that arise when using mobile technologies.
Findings in relation to risk in this report showed amarked increase in mediated forms of bullyingwith instances of cyberbullying over-taking that offace-to-face bullying. Cyberbullying is an evolvingphenomenon and is always part of a wider socialcontext. The fact that bullying is more likely to beexperienced on platforms such as socialnetworking, gaming or instant messaging reflectsin part the wider use of these services by childrenand young people. It also amplifies the need to
educate users in safe use of technologies andappropriate reporting of misuse or abuse.
The proliferation of potentially harmful user-generated content is another aspect of risk onlinethat presents new challenges for educators, carersand policy makers. With 1 in 5 of all young peopleand over a third of teenage girls encounteringsites containing hate messages, pro-anorexia
content and other forms of negative content,there is likely to be significant concern for thequality of young peoples internet experience.The almost doubling in the number reporting theyhave been upset by something online or contentthey wished they hadnt seen underlines thechallenge that such content poses.
Against this, the majority of young people appearto enjoy a wide range of benefits from internetuse, accessing useful information and using it tosocialise and communicate with friends. Asillustrated in the findings of this survey, not allrisks lead to harm and most young people reportnot being bothered by potentially problematiccontent they encounter.
Promoting digital opportunities for education,creativity and more advanced uses remains on theevidence of this report an important challenge forIrish policy. The very low levels of internet use in
schools leaves a wide gap between school andout-of-school culture and between the need forgreater digital skills and literacy and actualpractices in the classroom. Promoting widerintegration of digital technologies and internetcontent in schools can enhance opportunitiesavailable to young people, deepen theirappreciation of safe and responsible behaviourand extend the range of more advanced andcreative uses of rapidly evolving newtechnologies.
Future reports from Net Children Go Mobile willexamine in more detail these emergingopportunities and risks for children and youngpeople online.
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7. References
Haddon, L. (2013). Mobile media and children. Mobile
Media & Communication, 1, 8995.
doi:10.1177/2050157912459504Hasebrink, U., Grzig, A., Haddon, L., Kalmus, V., &
Livingstone, S. (2011). Patterns of risk and
safety online. In-depth analyses from the EU
Kids Online survey of 9-16 year olds and their
parents in 25 countries.
Helsper, E. J., Kalmus, V., Hasebrink, U., Sagvari, B., &
Haan, J. D. (2013). Country Classification:
Opportunities, Risks, Harm and Parental
Mediation.
Lenhart, A. (2009). Teens and Sexting: How and whyminor teens are sending sexually suggestive
nude or nearly nude images via text
messaging.
Livingstone, S., & Bober, M. (2006). Regulating the
internet at home: contrasting the perspectives
of children and parents. In David Buckingham
& R. Willett (Eds.), Digital generations: children,
young people, and new media (pp. 93114).
London: Routledge.
Livingstone, S., Haddon, L., Gorzig, A., & lafsson, K.
(2011). EU Kids Online Final Report. L: EU Kids
Online.
Livingstone, S., Haddon, L., Grzig, A., & lafsson, K.
(2011). Risks and safety on the internet: The
perspective of European children. Full
Findings.
Mascheroni, G., & lafsson, K. (2013). Mobile internet
access and use among European children:
initial findings of the Net Children Go Mobile
project. Milano: Educatt. Retrieved from
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content/uploads/2013/10/1stShortReport_we
b-colori.pdf
Mascheroni, G., & lafsson, K. (2014). Net Children Go
Mobile: risks and opportunities. Milano:
Educatt.
ONeill, B., & Dinh, T. (2012a). Digital Literacy, Digital
Opportunities. Dublin: Dublin Institute of
Technology, Centre for Social and Educational
Research.
ONeill, B., & Dinh, T. (2012b). Irish Kids Online:Comparing Youth and Parent Perspectives.
Retrieved from http://arrow.dit.ie/cseroth/41/
ONeill, B., Grehan, S., & lafsson, K. (2011). Risks and
safety for children on the internet: the Ireland
report. LSE, London: EU Kids Online.
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The InternationalAdvisory Panel
Mizuko ItoUniversity of California, Irvine
Richard LingIT University of Copenhagen
Sonia LivingstoneThe London School
of Economics and Political Science
Cristiana De Paoli
Save the Children Italia
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Contacts:Dr. Brian ONeill
DIT - Dublin Institute of TechnologyAungier Street - Dublin 2 - Ireland
Initial Findings from Ireland, February 2014
Net Children Go Mobile Project
Net Children Go Mobile Ireland is supported by Dublin Institute
of Technology, Department of Education and Skills,
Departments of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.
COFunded by:
Safer Internet Programme
European Commission(SI-2012-KEP-411201)