A survey on children’s online safety released yesterday highlighted the risks posed to children.
The poll of more than 1,200 fifth and sixth graders from schools across the country found that many children feel that someone is their friend if they have chatted online with the person more than three times, while one out of every four child who said they would meet an online friend in person said they would do so on the first day.
Conducted by the Child Welfare League Foundation and Microsoft Taiwan in March, the results showed that of the children who use the Internet, 43 percent have online friends. One in 10 of those who “befriend” people online say they would be willing to meet their online friends in person.
Almost half of the children who meet online friends in person would meet someone they have only known for a week and about 26 percent said they would do so on the first day, a slight increase from the 20 percent in the same survey last year.
About 17 percent also believe that a person with whom they have chatted online more than three times is “not a stranger.”
Children mostly add online friends through Internet-based games (73 percent), followed by the instant messaging application MSN (38 percent) and online social network site Facebook (30 percent).
A majority of the children surveyed said the main reason they add someone as a friend is to help them progress in online games, which are increasingly designed to allow players to advance to higher levels if they invite or add friends.
Compared with last year, children were less likely to go to meetings with online friends alone, with this year’s results showing a rise in the number who would take other friends with them.
However, foundation chief executive Wang Yu-min (王育敏) said this was still an issue of concern as children who are exposed to risky situations or sexually assaulted could be threatened even if other children were with them.
Ministry of the Interior figures showed that last year, two out of every three people who were sexually assaulted by someone they met online were younger than 18.
“The survey results should serve as reminders to parents that if they are unaware of their children’s activities online, they may be putting their children at risk,” she said.
Despite the potential dangers lurking in cyberspace, only 43 percent of families have installed child protection software to minimize adult content or inappropriate online activities for children.
It is recommended that parents be aware of the types of software and online portals their children use to make friends online, talk to their children about not giving away personal information, forbid them from using the Internet behind closed doors and let them meet online friends only with parental supervision.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS