Perceptions of the Risks of Internet Use for Minors

Copenhagen.
Next up at COST298 is Lelia Green, who shifts our interest to online participation by minors. The Net is often perceived as a risky place, but at the same time also as educational, fun, and communal - we must therefore consider what potential opportunities are cut off if the focus on risk comes to the fore.

A recent report from the US, for example, raises concerns about social networking sites; in February 2009, in fact, MySpace admitted the expulsion of 90,000 registered sex offenders during 2007-9 (out of a total number of 70 million members). EU Kids Online has similarly examined conduct, content, and contact online, and highlighted risks and challenges. In Australia, a 2007 Media and Communications in Australian Families report surveyed children aged 8-17 and their families.

Many of these reports are far more balanced in their weighing up of risks and benefits than their media coverage suggests, however. They also point out that those who are vulnerable in online contexts are similarly vulnerable offline, due to socioeconomic or other circumstances - offline problems transfer online, then, but simply being online does not necessarily create additional problems. Importantly, too, as children get older, some of them become perpetrators as well as victims, in spite of the strong media focus on abuses by adults.

The strong focus on sexual predation may also distract from other problems, such as cyberbullying and identity disorders. EU research examined media coverage - only in very few countries, positive and negative coverage were relatively balanced. This may suggest that the Net is a dangerous place to be, but could also mean that media coverage is largely biased towards the negatives. Australian studies, in turn, point to very different perceptions of rules about Internet use amongst children and parents; they highlight the need for children to gradually become more independent in their online use, and for parents and children to continue to negotiate those rules.

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