Two-thirds of children interact daily online with people they don’t know despite grooming fears

A new research report released by Western Sydney University and Save the Children has revealed more than 6 in 10 children with access to the internet interact with “unknown others” daily despite concerns about online grooming, highlighting children’s demands for better online protection.

The report, “Protecting Children from Online Grooming,” was written by the Young and Resilient Research Center at Western Sydney University.

The research team held in-depth consultations with about 600 children and young people aged 8 to 18 from Australia, Finland, the Philippines, Cambodia, Colombia, Kenya, and South Africa, who shared their views and experiences of facing inappropriate requests online for personal information or images.

Professor Amanda Third, Co-Director of the Young and Resilient Research Center, said keeping children safe from online grooming requires a whole-of-community approach, with governments, NGOs, technology platforms, teachers, parents, caregivers, and children themselves all having an important role to play.

“Children and young people are finding their own ways to tackle this issue and devise solutions, but they are also calling on us to help equip them and their caregivers with the skills and knowledge needed to be able to safely navigate these rapidly evolving digital environments,” said Professor Third.

“To most effectively address this issue, it is crucial that we listen to the views and experiences of children and young people and engage them as active partners in the research and policy design process.”

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, incidents of online grooming and child sexual and financial exploitation have reached an all-time high, with an 82% rise in online grooming crimes against children reported in that period. Online grooming practices have also transformed, with the fastest growing form of online grooming targeting young men for financial extortion.

The report revealed children were more inclined to connect with strangers—or “unknown others”—online as they matured and became more social, motivated by a desire for friendship, fun and play, followed by a wish to stay informed about trends and events, and to connect over shared interests.

The findings also showed that while children across all cultures and age groups were more suspicious of people they didn’t know online than people they knew in person, 66% of the study participants still interacted with unknown others daily online.

Children in high-income settings were twice as likely to use privacy settings to protect themselves from unwanted contacts, compared to children from some low-income settings, but the potential to derive financial benefits was an incentive for children in middle-income countries to connect with strangers online, potentially compromising their safety.

While children have come up with numerous ways to protect themselves, they are calling for widespread, accessible, and targeted online safety education for themselves and their caregivers. In the discussions, the children also made concrete suggestions about how technology platforms and governments can implement changes that will keep them safer online.

Children reported that it was very difficult to ascertain the intentions of strangers online. Children were also particularly worried about being asked for personal information or nude pictures, being drawn into inappropriate sexually-oriented exchanges, or exposure to criminal activities.

The report found that children want and need better online protection, with children primarily using intuition and background checks rather than seeking help from trusted adults to manage their online interactions with people they don’t know.

The data also showed that children distinguish people they know well both online and in person from those they only know online, with 86% approaching the latter with caution. Yet despite this wariness, children were still three times more likely to ignore or decline an inappropriate or unwanted request than they are to report or block it.

Steve Miller, Save the Children’s Global Director of Child Protection, said that children deserve to thrive in a safe and nurturing environment, both online and offline.

“As the digital landscape evolves, so do the challenges and threats, including the threat of online grooming and exploitation. We need to foster a digital environment that is not only safe but also enriching, allowing children to explore, learn, and grow without fear,” said Mr. Miller.

“Policymakers need to listen to the voices and experiences of children when developing policies that protect them.”

For more information, visit the Young and Resilient research Center’s “Protecting Children from Online Grooming” webpage here.