engleski

Online risks for children and youth: how to enhance child safety in virtual world

The safety of children in the virtual environment becomes a public health issue due to the widespread use of the Internet among this population. Child welfare includes the domain of child safety in virtual environment. In this age interaction among peers are significant aspect of growing up, and children and young people state that communication with peers and other activities in the virtual environment is an important domain of their well-being. Online activities of children and young people may also involve online risks such as cyberbullying, Internet addiction, but also new forms of criminal acts such as online coercion and sextortion. In cooperation with the Institute for Public Health of Split-Dalmatia County, a survey was conducted in the field of The use of the internet among children and young people in this county. The survey included representative samples of children and youth at county level from primary schools (N=286), high schools (N=539) and homes for children/dormitory homes (N=510). The aim of the research was to establish patterns of behavior on the Internet with a special focus on internet security, Internet addiction and participation in violence on the Internet. Standardized scales (for cyberbullying and Internet addiction) were used in the research, while part of the instrument on sociodemographic data of participants and Internet security was designed for research purposes. The research covered all ethical guidelines for conducting research with children and young people. The results for all three groups of children and youth will be presented in the paper. The results show that children and young people are involved in risky behaviors in a virtual environment and are exposed to numerous of online risks. Children and young people from all three groups: children from primary schools, high schools and homes for children declare participating in violence among children on the Internet while about one third of children are at risk of developing a serious severe level of Internet addiction. It is particularly concerned that children and young people are showing willingness to meet people who have met on the internet in the real world and they don't know how to use or don't use privacy settings on social networks that make them vulnerable to Internet predators. Finally, the presentation includes implications for practice based on the results of the research and also elaboration of the options for improving the safety of children in the virtual environment.

virtual environment ; online risks ; children and youth ; child safety

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