Children in Greece first come into contact with computers at the age of five years, according to a study by the Greek Cyber Crimes Squad. The data was gathered after examining a sample study of students from the ages of 10 to 14 years who participated in the 4th Conference for Safe Surfing held by the Cyber Crimes Squad on February 13.
The study found the following:
* The children (boys and girls) came into contact with the internet at a very young age, some as young as five with the majority beginning to surf on the internet at the age of eight years.
* Almost 100% of primary aged children have used the internet with most having accounts on Facebook and Viber.
* The main use of the internet is for entertainment (music), chats with friends followed by work for their studies or for watching movies.
* Just 60% of the parents monitor their children’s behavior on the internet either by checking the search history and by giving advice.
* The majority of children have at some stage had a negative experience due to a rumor that was spread over the internet about them or a friend.
* The majority of children who felt they were in danger rushed to tell their parents or friends. Even so, there were a number of children that didn’t inform anyone because they either felt bad or didn’t think that it was important enough to share.
