The survey investigates children's first steps online, such as the age of first use, the first device used to go online, the age at which they acquired their first smartphone, and so on. It also examines children's internet use and online behaviour, such as the type of online engagement, the main device used for online access, the frequency of use and time spent, which activities monopolise children's time online based on age and gender, and so on.

© Greek Safer Internet Centre

An issue that has attracted attention is children's reactions when confronted with an emerging risk, such as who to turn to for help or their level of knowledge on how to report.

Furthermore, the confidence level of children was investigated to understand how they self-perceive this, independently of whether it corresponds to a real or overestimated impression. As the self-assessment revealed, the largest percentage of children feel confident that they know how to use the internet safely and how to cope with emerging risks when confronted with them.

The survey helped highlight online risks, such as harassment and cyberbullying, accepting friends' requests from strangers, meeting with strangers, exposure to inappropriate content, sending intimate information, and so on. An important point emerging from the answers is the fact that one in five children admits having become a target of online harassment at some point in their digital life. A significant percentage of children puts themselves at risk by adopting wrong practices, such as accepting friendship requests from strangers, meeting people they got to know online, sharing very personal photos on the web, or sharing material without thinking of the possible consequences.

Concerning the key issue of excessive use of the internet, almost half the children admit neglecting their daily activities in order to be online, while about one in three children believe to have an internet addiction problem.

Regarding social media, an analysis of the results shows engagement of children at decreasing, not yet permissible age, most often without the consent of their parents.

Parental engagement and mediation appear to be inadequate. Parents' involvement, especially in regard to older children, is minimal, and rules, regulations, and limits are seldom applied. This highlights the need for improved parental supervision and possibly improved awareness raising and parental understanding.

However, results show that parents of smaller children, the new generation of parents who also grew up with technology, are more actively involved in their children's first steps in the digital world.

As shown by the results, primarily parents and carers and, secondarily, older siblings take over the task of guiding children in their first steps online. The results also show that very little help comes from educators, demonstrating the need for enhanced involvement of schools in online safety education, from a very early age.

The observations, in combination with the earlier occupation of children with the online world, dictate the need for a more organised approach of the topic by educational systems, starting education in schools in an organised way, incorporating material into school curricula, from as early as kindergarten and even in pre-school periods. An alarming observation is drawn from the fact that school appears to be non-existent in coping with the emergencies and anxieties that occur online, explained by the fact that schools in Greece lack, in general, the required structure to deal with such situations. For more information, the full paper is available in English.

Find out more information about the work of the Greek Safer Internet Centre (SIC) generally, including its awareness raising, helpline, hotline and youth participation services, or find similar information for Safer Internet Centres throughout Europe.