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 4^th 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.