Turkish parents fear children at risk of harm on the Internet

A majority of families believe their children are at risk of encountering harmful experiences on the Internet, according to a survey released for “Safer Internet Days,” an annual global event celebrated in Turkey for the first time.

The “Safe Internet Program” is supported by the European Commission and organized by a network called INSAFE to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones around the world, especially among children and young people.

Ninety percent of Turkish parents who responded to the survey said they believed their children were at risk when accessing the Internet, according to survey done by Dataprofil, a research company.

Parents mostly fear that their children are going to encounter “erotic” or “violent” images. They are concerned their children will become addicted to the Internet or mobile phones, or that strangers might easily obtain their children’s personal information. In addition, parents fear that strangers their children meet on the Internet might abuse them.

The survey was conducted among 10,992 parents with children between the ages of 6 and 17 who use the Internet, as well as among 2,816 children between ages of 12 and 17 who use the Internet.

“Parents should be communicating with their children about what they do while using the Internet and there must also be some rules about the children’s usage,” said Figen Şahin from the Gazi University Medical Faculty’s Department of Child Health and Diseases, on the Web site of the Supreme Board of Radio and Television, or RTÜK.

Parents said they follow the actions of their children on the Internet mostly by talking to their children, according to survey. Also, parents sit next to their younger children or watch them secretly while they are online, said the survey. Parents responding to the survey admitted that as their children get older it becomes more difficult to monitor what he or she does on the Internet.

“The computer used by the children should be in a communal room used by the parents and children, rather than in a child’s room,” according to Şahin.

The survey result, however, revealed that more than half of Turkish children use Internet in their room. As children grow older they prefer to use the Internet in a room separate from other family members.

Most parents say their children prefer using the Internet more than spending time with family and friends and playing outdoor games or reading books.

Other survey results were as follows: the average daily Internet use among children of early ages is 80 minutes, with the time increasing to 2 hours a day for children over the age of 15. Young children use the Internet for playing games, but as they get older they use it for listening to music, watching movies and chatting.

On the Web site www.guvenliweb.org.tr, Ayşen Gürcan, head of the Prime Ministry’s Family and Social Research Directorate, said families should find ways to limit the time their children spend on the Internet. The Web site was created to provide tips for safer Internet use for children in Turkey.

Young children ask for their parent’s help when they encounter harmful content online, but as their age increases they ask for less help.

Parents say they are going to complain if they encounter a Web site with harmful content, and most say they will be complaining to the Information and Communication Technologies Authority, or BTK, via its web site www.ihbarweb.org.tr.

The “Safe Internet Program,” organized each February since 2004, was celebrated with 500 events in 50 countries last year. This year’s topic is "Think Before You Post!"

Turkey is participating with an event organized in Istanbul by the Transportation Ministry’s Internet Department on Tuesday. Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım and INSAFE Coordinator Janice Richardson are expected to join the event.

/Hurriyet Daily News/