The NSPCC last month published a report on the experiences of 11- and 12-year-olds on social networking sites (SNSs) such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The report, which also comments on the role of parents, social network providers and regulations, provides a series of recommendations that aim to better protect these children.
The report acknowledges that, despite the communication and learning opportunities available on SNSs, children are particularly vulnerable to the risks these sites present.
Experiences of younger children
The report provides some worrying statistics on the experiences of 11- and 12-year-olds who use an SNS. Twenty-three per cent of these users claimed to have had an upsetting experience on an SNS during the past year. These experiences include trolling, aggressive or violent language, exclusion from a social group or friendship, unwanted sexual messages and requests for personal information or having such information used without their permission. In 62 per cent of these cases, the children identified the person responsible as either someone they did not know, someone they only knew online, or a complete stranger. Almost two-thirds of these children claimed to have experienced these events at least once a month, with a fifth experiencing these every day.
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