Children: The Major Victim Of Online Abuse And Exploitation

The number of children being bullied on the internet has doubled in the past year, with more than one in three victims, research suggests. The children have become major online abuse victim.
In a poll of 11- to 17-year-old, 35% reported that they have experienced cyber-bullying – compared with 16% last year. Four in 10 said they had witnessed others being picked on online – almost double the 22% recorded last year.
The study also suggests that thousands of teenagers, including many aged 15 or under, are using messaging service Some parents even helped set their children up with accounts, prompting fears that they are unwittingly putting them at risk. Internet security firm McAfee polled 2,000 children and 2,000 adults with at least one child aged under 18 in the UK before anti-bullying week on Monday and compared the findings with a similar study carried out last year.
The research indicated that there is a more relaxed attitude among many parents regarding the risks posed online. Less than a third of parents (27%) said they were worried about their child being a victim of cyber-bullying this year – almost halving from 45% in the previous year, while two-thirds (67%) of children are now allowed to go online without supervision – up from 53%.However, more than three-quarters (77%) of parents polled said they had conversations about online safety, up from 68% last year.
Around one in six of (17%) of the youngsters polled reported using Tinder every day, with almost half of those (46%) aged 15 and under.The service was more popular among girls than boys, with one in five female respondents using it compared with 15% of males.Tinder users are shown other subscribers close to their location and must both give a positive reaction and receive one back to start communicating. And this is how the children have become major online abuse victim.
Article by Siddhi Dinesh Shivtarkar
Editing by Mahima Gupta