Quarter of primary school children affected by harmful online content, report finds

A quarter of primary schoolchildren and just over a fifth of secondary school students have been “bothered or upset” by harmful content such as scams, harassment, horror or sexual material online, according to a new report.

It found that for primary school children, aged eight to 12 years old, this mostly occurred on YouTube (37 per cent) and Roblox (23 per cent), the online gaming platform.

For secondary school children, aged 12 to 14 years, Snapchat (41 per cent) and TikTok (30 per cent) were identified as the most common platforms where these negative experiences occurred.

The figures are contained in Left To Their Own Devices, a report published on Tuesday by online safety charity CyberSafeKids.

It surveyed more than 7,000 children over the last academic year and found that 42 per cent of eight-12-year-olds and 62 per cent of 12-14-year-olds do not talk to their parents about their online activity.

It also shows that parents are even less involved in their children’s online lives than in previous years: 77 per cent of 8-12-year-olds say their parents can’t see what they are doing online and 83 per cent can use devices in their bedrooms.

YouTube (75 per cent), WhatsApp (41 per cent), Roblox (40 per cent), Snapchat (36 per cent) and TikTok (33 per cent) are the most popular platforms for primary school children.

Over a third of 8-12 year olds can go online whenever they want, rising to 61 per cent for 12-14-year-olds in secondary school.

In addition, 38 per cent of 8-12-year-olds gamed with strangers online. Almost two-thirds were contacted by a stranger during an online game.

Children granted unlimited access to the online world were more likely to have experienced cyberbullying than those who had time restrictions (33 per cent vs 21 per cent), as were those who had no rules at home around their online engagement (34 per cent vs 23 per cent).

It is also now more common than ever for an 11-year-old to own a smartphone: 59 per cent own a phone compared with 52 per cent in the 2022-2023 academic year. This rises to 74 per cent by the age of 12.

CyberSafeKids chief executive Alex Cooney said the report showed the “vital need” for online safety education in schools.

“Children are underprepared and ill-equipped to be online. Algorithms that serve up often inappropriate content are hugely problematic for children,” he said.

[ Millions of children use Roblox – but this digital playground has a dark sideOpens in new window ]

“Our data shows how popular social gaming environments such as Roblox are with young children, yet they fly under the radar for regulation requirements. We call on the Government to urgently also address this serious gap to ensure positive experiences for the children and young people using these services.”

Barry O’Leary, principal at St Kevin’s School in Sallynoggin, added that the report tallies with teachers’ experience in school of the “ever-growing consequence of the online childhood, with constantly accessible devices and gaming consoles that are proving too powerful for younger people”.

[ Alex Cooney: Social media is 20 years old. How are we still getting so much wrong?Opens in new window ]

“They are subject to an irrepressible fire hose of content – often addictive, sometimes damaging – and we seem to have no reasonable expectation that digital service providers should ensure safe or age-appropriate experiences – and this is causing sleep deprivation, anxiety and addiction,” he said.