Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) Safe Internet Center prepared a ‘Report on the Conscious and Safe Internet Usage Experiences and Habits of Children and Parents in Turkey’ by conducting fieldwork with a total of 2,222 samples, of which 1,111 are students and their parents, 1,111 are parents, in 12 regions across Turkey. While 40,8 percent of the children participating in the study stated that they access the Internet most with their smartphones, the rate of those who access the Internet with the computers at school was recorded as 4,4 percent. It was stated that the vast majority of children in this age category own a smartphone. Although it seems that children's activities on the Internet are for learning and homework purposes, the rate of watching random videos for fun was 64,4 percent. It was noted that this situation showed that the children went away from their goals after a while on the Internet, which they used for homework purposes.
SPENDING OVERTIME ON THE INTERNET CAUSES DOMESTIC PROBLEMS
While emphasizing that 29 percent of students spend excessive time online, has a negative impact on their academic success, 29 percent of students stated that they argue with their families because of the overtime they spend on the internet. On the other hand, 13 percent of the participants in the study reported that they went to school without sleeping and eating because of the time they spent on the internet. According to the report, 23 percent of children in the 15-16 age group stated that they received vulgar and obscene messages. The proportion of children who witnessed hurting or mistreating someone else online was 52,2 percent. 48 percent of the children stated that they had witnessed someone else receiving messages with obscene content against public morality. Although there are many risks on the Internet, the majority of parents are not aware of the Internet problems their children are experiencing and the risks they face.
“SAFE INTERNET” MOBILIZATION
Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) carries out various projects to create a secure internet environment. BTK Secure Internet Center carries out its activities in 3 main areas: awareness raising, notification and help center. The Institution published and put into practice the Online Safety Strategy for the Protection of Children (2022-2024). In the Strategy Document, which consists of 7 purposes and 28 goals, it is ensured that the progress in the purposes and goals is followed with the performance indicators determined for each purpose and goal. During the Strategy Document implementation period, monitoring and evaluations will be carried out in 6-month periods.
With the “Province Province Turkey Safe Internet Seminars”, a wide target audience was reached, starting from schools, students, parents, teachers and public personnel. With the trainings and seminars given, the participants were informed about the conscious use of the internet, social networks and digital game platforms and current digital problems. This year, 90 trainings and seminars were organized for approximately 20 thousand students, teachers and parents on safe internet use. With these studies, an effort is made to create a protection umbrella for the society, especially children and youth, against the risks of domestic abuse, disinformation, obscenity, various digital propagandas, cyberbullying and digital violence.
MANY HAZARDS FROM ACADEMIC FAILURE TO FAMILY PROBLEM, FROM OBSCENITY TO SLEEPLESSNESS
According to the BTK study, which revealed that 29 percent of students spend too much time on the Internet, negatively affecting their academic success, it was also found that children who spend a lot of time on the Internet argue with their families. 13 percent of the participants in the study reported that there were periods when they went to school without sleeping and eating because of the time they spent on the internet.
PARENTS ARE COMPLETELY UNAWARE ABOUT WHAT’S GOING ON!
According to the report, 23 percent of children in the 15-16 age group stated that they received vulgar and obscene messages.
In addition, according to the report, 48 percent of the children stated that they received messages with obscene content from someone else against public morality. Although there is many risk on the Internet, it was also stated in the report that most of the parents were not aware of the internet problems their children experienced and the risks they faced.