Hanafin: Survey shows need for monitoring children's web use
Minister for Education Mary Hanafin has expressed concern about the results of a new survey designed to assess the risk of children using internet chat-rooms.
The survey was commissioned by the Department of Education and involved almost 850 children aged between nine and 16.
One in every 15 respondents said they had arranged a real-life meeting with somebody they met over the internet.
One tenth of these said they ended up experiencing physical threats or abuse.
In all of these cases, the person had introduced themselves as a child, but turned out to be an adult.
Elsewhere, 30% of respondents said they had encountered someone on the internet who asked for information like a photo, phone number, address or school name.
Ms Hanafin said last night that the results were "very worrying" and highlighted the need for parents to realise the dangers involved in allowing their children to have unregulated access to chat rooms and other social networks.
