Almost 90 percent of Taiwanese aged 7 to 15 are social media users, with the average having three accounts and spending two hours a day on them, a survey released on Tuesday by the Child Welfare League Foundation showed.
Eighty-seven percent of students in elementary and junior-high school have social networking accounts, the foundation told a news conference in Taipei.
Each respondent had an average of 3.8 social networking accounts that they used 16.7 hours per week, the foundation said.
The survey showed that 9.3 percent of respondents used the sites more than 40 hours a week and 60.8 percent used electronic devices until midnight.
Nearly 63 percent of respondents considered it important to stay online, while 39.9 percent became anxious when offline or without their cellphone, the survey showed.
The median age of smartphone ownership was 10.1 years and 82.7 percent of respondents owned one, it showed.
Privacy was not an issue for 46.7 percent of respondents and 33.2 percent allowed Web sites to collect their personal data, it showed.
The survey found that 56.1 percent of respondents had watched scary or violent content online, 37.3 percent had seen pornographic material online, and 27.6 percent had negative experiences on social networking sites, including cyberbullying or harassment.
The survey showed that students in elementary and junior-high schools using social media face the risks of Internet addiction, loss of personal data, exposure to inappropriate content and cyberbullying, said Harold Li (李宏文), head of the foundation’s policymaking center.
The foundation advised parents to do more to protect their child’s privacy, to monitor their child’s contacts on social Web sites and to remind them to be careful when commenting online.
The group also urged the government to set up an agency dedicated to managing Internet safety.
The survey was conducted by the foundation from May 6 to 24 and had 1,542 valid respondents. It had a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 2.49 percentage points.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
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