By AINSLEY THOMSON
More than 20 per cent of New Zealand children aged between 7 and 10 have met a stranger they encountered on the internet, a study revealed today.
The study by the Internet Safety Group interviewed more than 2500 school students about their use of the internet, making it
the largest study on the topic in New Zealand and one of the largest internationally.
Internet Safety spokeswoman Liz Butterfield said the study had provided vital information about the internet's impact on New Zealand children.
It also showed the spread of new technology among young people.
Half of the children in the study, carried out at three schools, owned cellphones. Most primary students learned about the internet from parents and siblings.
Liz Butterfield said that while the study showed how quickly this younger generation had adopted the internet it also identified some children whose behaviour placed them at risk.
While most children met someone of their own age, a small group met people significantly older.
The study interviewed students aged between 7 and 19, one-third of whom revealed they had met someone face to face after linking up online.
Members of the Internet Safety Group who have been working on online safety for over three years were surprised by the figures.
Trish Grant, a senior advocate in the Office of the Children's Commissioner, said the figures showed the need for parents to supervise their children's use of the internet.
The study shows most children meet people who are around the same age, or who are one or two years older.
But 6 per cent reported meeting people seven years or more older.
Children's Agenda chairman Dr Ian Hassall said parents could prevent their children being at risk.
The first rule was to know what your children were doing.
The second was to give some latitude but not enough to place the children at risk.
And the third rule was to ensure children understood people they meet in chatrooms might not be who they pretended to be.
