A qualitative exploration of the online safety needs of secondary school children

Introduction: Internet use of young people has risen dramatically over the past 10 years with increasing ease of access via various digital devices to younger age groups. The internet has many positive benefits for young people such as access to educational resources, health advice, and leisure interests available online. However, issues including cyberbullying, sexting, viewing of inappropriate content, grooming and hacking have all raised concerns about online safety of young people. This project aimed to understand the current online activities and experiences of young people of secondary school age 11-16 in relation to online risks and resilience, as well as their understanding of online safety practices.
Method: Twenty-six students (males =14, female=16) from years 7 to 11 (ages 11-16) participated in four focus groups. NVivo 10 qualitative data analysis computer software was used to assist the organisation and analysis of the data into themes.
Results: This is explored using a qualitative method of enquiry. Five codebooks were identified from the analysis of the data. They combine a wide range of issues and include E-safety education, Risk taking behaviour, Generation Gap, Help-seeking, Online experiences.
Conclusion: Young people are keen to know how to stay safe online and who is appropriate to contact if they have concerns, and voice a general need for more consistent education and support appropriate to their needs. Implications for future practice in education settings are discussed regarding the findings that in the UK this issue has gained priority on the policy agenda.