Risky Online Behaviour by Age Group - Ages 11-12
The web sites and online activities mentioned by children and teens who participated in Young Canadians In A Wired World: The Students’ View paint a picture of Canadian youth who have claimed the Internet as a defining part of their culture. However, as young people embrace this exciting and interactive medium, they may be putting themselves physically or emotionally at risk.
Some “red flags” for potentially risky behaviour include the following:
- Fifty-six per cent of 11-12 year olds who attend an intermediate school visit chat rooms.
- Of those young people who visit chat rooms, 37% visit private and adult chat areas.
- Nearly four out of ten children (39%) in this age group have been asked by online strangers for their photo, phone number, street address, or school. Three out of ten admit giving out some of the requested information.
- Nineteen per cent of young people in this age category have been asked by someone they've met on the Net to meet in person. Of those who arranged to meet an online acquaintance (10%), four out of ten brought a friend to the meeting and one out of ten went alone.
- Of the six out of ten 11-12 year-olds who use instant messaging (IM) half say they IM with people they have only met online.
- Seventy-five per cent of 11-12 year-olds have e-mail accounts. Of those young people, three out of ten have accounts that their parents are unaware of.
- Of the young people in this age group who have e-mail accounts, nearly four out of ten (37%) correspond with people they've only met on the Net.
- Two out of ten young people in this age category have received pornography from someone they have met online.
- Nineteen per cent of 11-12 year-olds have received e-mail messages that have bothered or frightened them. Of those, twenty per cent told an adult.
- Four out of ten students in intermediate school have received pornographic junk mail in their e-mail or instant messaging accounts. More boys (57%) than girls (43%) have received this kind of pornographic spam. Sixty-seven per cent don't tell their parents when this happens.
