Risky Online Behaviour by Age Group - Ages 15-17
The web sites and online activities mentioned by children and teens who participated in Young Canadians In A Wired World: The Students’ View paint a picture of Canadian youth who have claimed the Internet as a defining part of their culture. However, as young people embrace this exciting and interactive medium, they may be putting themselves physically or emotionally at risk.
Some “red flags” for potentially risky behaviour include the following:
- Over three quarters (78%) of youth in this age category use chat rooms, with more girls (78%) than boys (67%) participating in chat.
- Of those 15-17 year-olds who visit chat rooms, more than six out of ten visit private and adult chat areas.
- Sixty-one per cent have been asked by strangers for their photo, phone number, street address or school. Half of these teens admit disclosing some of the requested information.
- Forty-three per cent of teens ages 15-17 have been asked by someone they've met on the Net to meet in person. Two out of ten who are asked have accepted the invitation - with half this group bringing a friend along, and 20% going alone.
- Of the 15-17 year olds who use instant messaging (70%), nearly three-quarters (71%) say they IM with people who they have only met on the Net.
- Thirty-seven per cent of teens in this age category have received pornography from someone they have met online.
- Sixty per cent of the young people in this age category report having received pornographic junk mail in their e-mail or instant messaging accounts. Boys (58%) are more likely than girls (42%) to have received this kind of pornographic spam. Of those, eighty-one per cent do not tell their parents when this happens.
