Technology

Irish teens are sophisticated internet users - Microsoft

08.02.2010
New research from Microsoft shows that Irish teens are sophisticated internet users, with 79pc of them actively accessing social-networking sites.

However, the research has shown worrying gaps in teens’ online safety awareness and overall internet education.

Some 62pc of those surveyed said their parents/guardians are doing nothing to encourage them to be safe online.

However, when their parents were questioned, 58pc said they were confident that their children are taking necessary safety precautions with the information they are sharing online and more than 73pc said they took measures to control their child’s use of the internet, although only 46pc say they monitor their child’s online movements and regular postings.

The Microsoft research also shows that 71pc of Irish teenagers have been contacted by strangers online and 43pc have responded out of curiosity.

The research continued to show that the vast majority of teenagers (66pc) believe it is completely safe to share personal information across social-networking sites, with almost half surveyed allowing any internet users to access their information.

The figures were revealed today, on EU Internet Safety Day, by the Minister for Education and Science Batt O’Keeffe TD.

Microsoft Ireland kicked off its campaign both in the Republic of Ireland and in the North to promote internet safety among children and to encourage them to ‘think before you post’. The campaign is being run by Microsoft Ireland in partnership with the National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE) and An Garda Síochána to mark Safer Internet Day

Today, teams from Microsoft will visit 70 primary schools across Ireland and train more than 6,200 students from 8-9 February, 2010, in delivering internet safety sessions to students.

Jerome Morrissey, director of the NCTE, said today’s youth are using online tools like Bebo, Facebook and Twitter to write about their lives, express their views and, more importantly, to connect and share their lives with friends.

“In these spaces, audiences are invisible, contexts are fluid, and distinctions between public and private are becoming increasingly blurred. Young people try to use privacy settings to restrict who can see their personal information, how it can be searched, and in what context it can be seen. However, in reality, these measures can be circumvented easily,” Morrissey said.

Article courtesy of siliconrepublic.com