How dangerous is the Internet for kids?

The Internet may not be as dangerous for children as parents suspect, reports a new survey out of the European Union, which finds that parents and kids perceive online risks differently.

Researchers with the London School of Economics and France’s National Center for Scientific Research surveyed 25,140 EU children aged 9 to 16 about their Internet habits, as well as how often they had encountered risks, such as seeing sexual images, communicating with strangers, or being bullied. 

Only 12 percent of all children surveyed said that they had experienced something online that left them bothered or upset. For instance, 14 percent of children have encountered sexual images online, but only two percent said they were upset by them.

By contrast, only six percent of children had received bullying messages, but over half of those were fairly or very upset by them – however bullying is still more likely to occur offline than online.

Overall, 40 percent of children reported encountering at least one risk online, and within this group, parents often remained unaware. Of those children who had seen a sexual image, 40 percent of parents did not know, and with regards to cyber-bullying, 56 percent of the victim’s parents were not informed.