One in four children was threatened with beating on social networks, and one in 10 is offended every day or at least twice a week in the online environment, according to a survey done in January by the World Vision Romania Foundation.
44% of children see at least once or twice a week posts or comments on social networks that make them feel sad or anxious. Of these, over 26% daily see content that provokes negative emotional states.
Regarding the reasons why children are sadder or more anxious after going on social networks, 58.7% of these said that users bully them or insult them for the content they post. 28.8% of respondents are affected when they see on social network other children that display a better life than theirs. Last but not least, 18% of children explained that the reason is that they receive fewer likes or have fewer views for the content they share than they expected.
The same survey shows that 45% of children see daily posts, comments or pictures with aggressive messages on social media networks.
Despite the extended aggression that children deal with online, 36% do not speak to any adult or friend regarding the aggressions they are facing or witnessing on the internet, and from those that do talk about their problems, 44% choose to tell their parents, 27.7% to their friends or classmates. 9% would speak with teachers, although 65% of children mentioned that the teachers have spoken in class about bullying, insults and other humiliations.
Nearly 14% of the children and teens that responded to the survey are doing TikTok challenges. Among these, over half (54%) declared that they do not like challenges, but they do it so that they wouldn't be rejected by their friends or to be accepted in a new group. 23% do challenges that are trending in order to increase popularity on the internet and to have as many views as possible. As many do challenges just so that they can feel more appreciated by their colleagues and friends.
Regarding the period of time spent by children on social networks, 18.2% replied that they stay almost all day, even at school, because classes are boring them; 38.6% - almost the entire day, with the exception of school schedule; 40.2% - maximum two hours a day. A 3% percentage said that they have no social network accounts.
The survey was carried out in January, in the context of the International Day of Internet Safety, which is celebrated on February 9. The survey included over 1,000 children and teens, from the 5th to the 8th grade and high school, from both the rural and urban areas.
World Vision Romania will launch on Wednesday a campaign called #LunaSiguranteiPeNet, through which it will organize a series of free webinars dedicated to teachers and parents about how the children could be protected in the online environment. At the end of this series, the teachers will receive a free internet safety kit that they will use during class.
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