Abstract
The current study explored the effect of a school-based intervention on online risk awareness and behavior in order to shed light on a relatively unexplored field with high practical relevance. More than 800 Belgium primary school children (grade 4 and 6) were assessed at two measurements (n T1 = 812, 51.2 % female; n T2 = 819, 51.3 % female) before and after the intervention. Half of them received a 10 min classroom intervention indicating online risks. Children in the control group received a 10 min presentation concerning online applications without any emphasis on risks. Children in the intervention group were more likely to be aware of online risks directly after the intervention; this effect was still noticeable 4 months after. Reporting of online risk behavior in the intervention group was also higher compared to the control group who did not receive the intervention. Overall online risk awareness and online risk behavior were negatively associated and the awareness did not modulate the association between the intervention and online risk behavior. Furthermore, individual differences were assessed. Girls were more likely to be aware of online risks and asserted less online risk behavior than boys were. In line with the imperative in adolescence to become more risk taking, children in a higher grade were more likely to behave in a risky manner when online. The current study provides a valuable starting point for further research on how to decrease online risk behavior in early adolescence.
Highlights
The current generation is the first that takes the existence of the Internet for granted
The current study explored the effect of a school-based intervention on online risk awareness and behavior in order to shed light on a relatively unexplored field with high practical relevance
The independent variable was whether or not the child received the intervention at Time 1. Both grade and gender were entered as covariates in the analyses since both were expected to be related to the outcome variables in this study, namely online risk awareness and online risk behavior
Summary
The current generation is the first that takes the existence of the Internet for granted. The EU Kids Online Survey (Livingstone and Haddon 2009) reports that children of 9–16 years old go online for on average 88 min per day. All day access to the Internet via a computer, smartphone or tablet might expose these children to several dangers. Reports, such as the EU kids online report, emphasize the risky side of their Internet behavior (Livingstone and Haddon 2009). The current study will examine the online risk behavior and online risk awareness in early adolescents and examine whether an awareness raising intervention can be used to change this to the better
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