sidfair.org

On the occasion of the "Safer Internet Day",  Perceptions and Tendencies of the Turkish Families Regarding Internet are analysed by an online research which is applied to 10,992 parents who have children using internet between the age range of 6-17 and 2.816 children between the age range of 12-17.

The most interesting result of the research is that 90 percent of Turkish families think that their children are at risk on the Internet.

Most of the parents are anxious that their children may be exposed to "obscene" and  "violent" content or may access to such web sites while using the internet, their children may become dependant on internet or mobile phones, their personal and private information may be stolen by foreigners, their children may be subject to abuse and harassment over the internet and they may meet and become friend with ill-mentioned people.

Research gives important information on where children between the age range of 6-17 connect to the internet. According to results, 51.6 percent of children connect to the internet from a separate room. As the age increases, they prefer to use the internet at an independent section and begin to spend more time on the internet. Families say that their children prefer to connect the internet instead of spending time together with their families, reading books and playing outside with their friends. This situation reveals the fact that children feels confused between "virtual environment" and "reality".

While the average internet usage is up to 80 minutes per day at early ages, it increases over 2 hours from 15 years of age upward. Older age groups spend their time on the internet by socialising with online friends, watching movies and listening to music. On the other hand, smaller ones are playing games on the internet.

In general, children share their experiences with their parents when they are confronted with harmful content, but the demand for help reduces significantly when age progresses.

The parents often follow their children while using the internet. Although the most common method is to talk to them, methods such as sitting next to the children or secretly observing them are preferred especially in younger age groups. To follow the children becomes difficult when age progresses.

In general, various restrictions and bans about the use of internet are applied to the children. Softwares that prevent entering web sites with malicious content are generally being used.

More than half of the parents believe that playing games on the internet have a positive effect on their children. But this perception declines when the ages of the children and the time they spend on the internet increase.

Most of the parents say that they will complain when they encounter web sites with harmful content. The best known body is the Internet Hotline of ICTA (www.ihbarweb.org.tr) in this respect.

While small children receive the most basic information about internet usage from their families; friends and internet sites become important when age progresses.

More than half of the parents think that they have not enough information about safer internet.