60 percent of the teenagers in Belgium have stumbled upon violence and pornography on the internet without looking for it. This is apparent from a study carried out by Antwerp University, in the framework of European Day for Safe Internet.

According to the study, almost all of the Belgian teenagers surf on internet.

Four out of ten teenagers even have their own internet blog and two out of ten have their own website. Many of the teenagers are thus exposed every day to the risks of the virtual world.

Half of the teenagers have come into contact with other people via internet. Most of the time the contact is positive, but sometimes the youngsters are confronted with adults who pretend to be younger, or have dubious intentions.

More than half of the teenagers have come across pornography or violence on internet without wanting to. 1/6 of the teenagers interviewed admitted to having received sexually-tinted comments or questions.

According to the authors of the study, youngsters want to talk about their experiences on internet. Parents play an important role in this and how their children use internet. The authors say that it is very important that parents teach their children how to use internet conscientiously.

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