The use of the Internet is very popular among children of a very young age (children 9-10 years old state that they connect to the Internet several times per week). There is a convergence in Internet use among children of different European Countries which may be summarized as follows: for entertainment and recreation (playing online games and looking for information on subjects of interest), for schoolwork (although less attractive), for communication, for downloading, for other uses (reading and responding to blogs, sharing folders and photos, engaging in open chats, participating in competitions etc.). 

Research available indicates that totally unsupervised Internet use by children may bear dangers for themselves and their family. Although youngsters (in particular the older ones) express confidence regarding what is safe and/or unsafe and what precautions to take, it seems that certain children adopt more risky behaviour than they say and think. On the other hand, children declare that in case of problems they turn to their parents. But in actual fact, some (once more mostly the older ones) avoid resorting to this solution or limit it to the ones they perceive to be “serious” cases. Moreover, turning to “authority figures” such as teachers or the police is very seldom seen without reluctance. 

Despite the fact that research efforts are attempting to develop safety mechanisms such as appropriate filtering technology that will remove the perception of “filtering doesn’t work”, it has been made clear that filtering technology should not be considered as the unique method for protection. Creating a “risk-free” Internet for children and younger people seems to be an illusion and it is therefore necessary to focus on creating a “culture” about safe Internet use.

At a European Level action has been taken for creating a safer Internet environment by promoting the use of hotlines, filtering and rating systems as well as awareness-raising through the establishment of national awareness nodes in all EU countries. 

However, EU funded research and developments in this domain have identified areas for new research which suggest that future awareness campaigns and programmes should, among other, focus on: