Kids Wise to Cyberspace Dangers

The willingness of British children to give out their home address on the Net has dropped by two-thirds in 18 months, according to a survey just published by NOP Family.

The most recent kids.net survey from the division has found that of all 7-16-year-old Internet users in the UK, only 1 in 10 (11%) would give out their house address on the Internet in order to obtain free samples, gifts or information. This compares with an equivalent figure of 29% recorded by the same survey eighteen months ago in June 2000.

Furthermore, the survey carried out in November 2001 found an implicitly higher level of parental awareness of the issue of cyber stranger danger. Asked why they wouldn't give out their home address over the Internet, 41% of young users said that their parents told them not to, up from the equivalent 33% recorded in autumn 2000.

Linda Smith, associate director of NOP Family, noted that 'As the tragedy of the Sarah Payne case and the media campaign against paedophilia remind us, children are at risk from those who would prey on them. It is encouraging to see that the message is starting to get through that as brilliant as the Internet can be, the anonymity it affords can sometimes mask something darker.'

The research was based on 1,029 7-16-year-old UK Internet users between 22 October and 3 November 2001.

All articles 2006-22 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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