Children Believe Everything They Read On The Internet (Apparently)

Ofcom, the independent UK communications regulator, has released a report revealing some truly eye opening findings about children, and their usage and beliefs concerning the internet

The “Children and parents: Media use and attitudes report 2015,’ has found that children spend twice as much time online as they did 10 years ago.

While that statistic will come as no surprise to any parent, What might shock parents is the fact  that a significant proportion of ‘digital natives,’ (children between the ages of 8-15, who have grown up with the internet) will believe almost everything they see online.

Ofcom also found that digital natives seem to lack the “online nous” to decide if what they see on the internet is either true or impartial.

Worryingly, the report also showed findings that almost 1 in 10 children believe everything they read and watch in apps and on social media, that it is ‘all true.’ This is a doubling from the figure cited in the previous year’s report.

The effect of online advertising was also measured among 12-15 years old and found that almost 20%  of children were adamant that search engine results provided by Google or other search engines must be true.

The same 12-15 year old grouping were unaware that vloggers are often paid to endorse and publicize the products they promote.

A page from Ofcom’s Children report

YouTube News

Almost 20% of 12-15 years old again also now seek out ‘true and accurate’ information about news and world events from media sites such as YouTube, with 8% of this age group claiming to prefer video sharing sites as their first choice for this sort of information. A small but significant jump from last year.

Only half of 12-15 year olds were aware however, that such sites were primarily funded by advertisers.

Small Mercies

More than likely due to direct personal experience however, three quarters of 12-15 year olds are aware that people are more likely to behave differently online than they do in real life.

Children involved with the Ofcom report were also said to express concern about spending too much time online.

One in every ten children aged 8-15 disliked having to spend too much time on the internet, with almost a third of 12-15 year olds feeling they spent too much of their time online.

Children are more sensible than supposed, however, when it comes to befriending strangers. 

Only seven per cent of 12-15 year olds  say they had added people as “friends” with whom they had only had online contact.

Reassuringly as well, almost 100% of children had been given advice, mostly by parents, about staying safe online. The vast majority said they would inform their parents or teachers if they saw anything online that worried, scared, or offended them.

The report’s findings were summarized by James Thickett, research director of Ofcom, who said:

“The internet allows children to learn, discover different points of view and stay connected with friends and family. But these digital natives still need help to develop the know-how they need to navigate the online world.”

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