About 97 per cent of Maltese youngsters aged between eight and 15 have access to the internet at home and a third of them can surf the web from their own room with limited adult supervision, according to a survey.

The results of the study, carried out by the Malta Communications Authority, show that 69 per cent of parents feel their child is aware of the internet’s risks and 34 per cent trust their children and say they do not need to supervise them.

On the other hand, 71 per cent of parents or carers believe that, by making friends online, minors could be running a risk. In fact, 70 per cent of parents do not want their child uploading a photo on the internet.

The study reveals that 54 per cent of minors access the internet on a daily basis.

Primary school students and those attending Forms I and II mostly use the ‘net to play, for school related research and social networking. Older secondary school students mostly favour social networking followed closely by school research activity, chatting and non-academic related browsing.

Gender differences also emerged, with boys using the internet mainly to play games while girls preferred social networking.

A total of 818 students from 35 schools were interviewed through the initiative supported by the Ministry for Education, Youth and Employment, the Secretariat for Catholic Education and a number of independent schools.

The results will help the MCA in its efforts to raise awareness about internet safety among children, minors, their parents, carers and educators.

The survey findings are available on the MCA website at www.mca.org.mt.

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