Engl. transl.: https://www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-communications/assets/documents/research/eu-kids-online/participant-countries/cyprus/EU-Kids-Online-EU-Kids-Online-Risks-and-safety-Cyprus-report-2014.pdf

This report presents initial findings from a Cypriot survey of children and their parents designed to provide a unique insight into the balance of opportunities and risks experienced by Cypriot children on the internet. A random stratified sample of 806 9-16 year olds, who use the internet, and one of their parents/carers, was interviewed during May/September 2010. The Cypriot survey forms part of a larger 25 country survey conducted by EU Kids Online and funded by the EC’s Safer Internet Programme. The questionnaire was designed by the EU Kids Online network, coordinated by the London School of Economics and Political Science. Fieldwork was conducted by Ipsos MORI. In what follows, the Cypriot findings are compared with those from other countries, as reported in Livingstone, S., Haddon, L., Görzig, A., and Ólafsson, K. (2011). Risks and safety on the internet: The perspective of European children. Full findings. LSE, London: EU Kids Online. See www.eukidsonline.net.

Ways of going online are diversifying rapidly. For many Cypriot children, internet use is now thoroughly embedded in their daily lives and everyday routines. Compared with other European countries, Cypriot children are slightly more likely to have domestic access, but not more likely to have private access at home. However, across the socioeconomic range, Cypriot children are gaining access to handheld devices for going online faster than across many European countries, especially among teenagers and boys. This poses a new set of challenges for the multiple stakeholders working to make the internet safer for children in Cyprus. Young users need digital skills. Children are going online at ever younger ages. Since 42% of 9-10 year olds say they do not know more about the internet than their parents, and a substantial number of younger children lack key safety skills, there is plenty of scope for parents, teachers and others to guide younger children in using the internet. Internet safety campaigns and initiatives should now be tailored for younger age groups, especially at primary schools, while also sustaining existing efforts for older children. This has implications for curricula, teacher training, parental guidance and other awareness-raising efforts. Success for safer internet initiatives? The overall relatively low levels of online risk experienced by Cypriot children, particularly compared with other countries in Europe, suggests that the considerable efforts towards safety practices and the promotion of safety messages have indeed reached their target. For example, Cypriot children especially appear to have learned that it is unwise to post their address or phone number on their SNS profiles, and best to keep their profile private or partially private. Another example is the relatively high awareness among parents, in those cases where children have seen sexual images online – there are still many parents who remain unaware of such incidents, but not so many as in many other European countries. Other findings suggest that Cypriot children evade safety advice from their parents. For instance, they are distinctive also in being among the most likely of all countries to post an incorrect age on their profile (23%, compared with a European average of 16%). Since it seems unlikely that they would post a younger age, though some do post a ‘silly’ age (e.g. 99), it may be assumed that most make themselves appear older than they really are. In many cases, it may be further assumed that this is to evade the age restrictions on popular SNSs. In other words, many may be using social networking sites ‘under-age’.