Israeli Children Go-on-line

Dafna Lemish, Tel Aviv University

Rivka Ribak, University of Haifa

Research Coordinator: Rotem Alony, Tel Aviv University

Sponsorship :

Israel Internet AssociationIn collaboration with:

Netvision Institute for Internet Studies, Tel Aviv University

Presented to

EU kids go online network Brussels, November 2007

lemish@post.tau.ac.il

• To understand the role of the Internet in the lives of children in Israel from their own – as well as their parents’ – points of view

• To compare the Israeli results with those of other countries

532 Parents +Children 532 • Age: 9-18 years

26% elementary, 30% middle, 41% high

• Gender: 55% Girls, 45% Boys

• Ethnicity: 80% Jewish, 20% others

• SES: 19% average, 20% below, 47% above, 19% refuse

• Questionnaires: (UK-kids-go-online adapted for cultural

differences): 190 child questions 90 parent questions

• Topics: access, uses, skills, attitudes, emotional responses,

coping with risks, parental supervision,

creativity, social engagement, language

• In-depth interviews: specific topics and

populations

• Spring-Summer 2006

• The entire country, all geographical areas and

types of residencies

* Hours and minutes

Which one would you miss most if it disappeared tomorrow? (%)

Which of the following are you good at? (%)

Do you know someone that you ONLY talk to online using email, IM or chat?Have you ever met anyone face to face that you first met on the internet? (%)

Who do you speak to using instant messages? (%)Are the people you talked to during the last week:

Overall, have you seen porn on TV / video or DVD / in magazines / on the internet? (%)

On the Internet - Have you ever… (%)

70% reported they have been exposed in the media to stories about the dangers of the Internet

Many responded to an open-ended question with details

1/3 – sex crimes (mainly girls)

“They were talking on this program about this man that pretended to be a young boy and chat with young girls and tempt them to meet him and then he raped them” (14, G)

“I saw on the news pedophiles that advertise information on a web-site and put pictures that I don’t want to see and it scared me” (15, G)

1/3 – general violence

“ There are dangerous people on ICQ that kidnap people” (10, B)

“They were talking on the news about the dangers on the Internet, for example in ICQ young children chat with strangers and these people can harm little kids who do not understand the dangers in the world” (15, G)

1/5 (younger) – specific incidence from January 2001: political crime

“I got this e-mail about a real boy who was speaking in a forum with a woman and he ended up murdered because she was related to terror” (11, B)

“Two people were on ICQ and there was this woman who didn’t tell the truth about her identity and later it was found out that she was an Arab and they arranged to meet and he was murdered for national reasons” (12, G)

1/6 – Technological dangers Viruses, bugs, dangers software, Trojan

horse

Single responses (older) –

financial cheating, anorexia, addiction, dangerous sects

What parents do when child is using the internet (Multiple response) %

Which of these would help you to make sure that your child uses the internet effectively? %

Which one of these do you find MOST useful for getting information when doing homework or projects for school (%)

• Arab children: Christian, Moslem and Druze

• Kibbutz (communes) children

• National-religious children

• Work-migrants children

• Former USSR children

(with Nelly Elias, Ben Gurion University)

Based on in-depth interviews and questionnaires

93 children and youth, up to 5 years since immigration to Israel

Internet as the most central medium for:

1. Integration inwards – source of information

cultural resource

practicing safe networking

2. Integration outwards – source of nostalgia

social networking with homeland

3. Identity explorations – re-affirming homeland identities

cultivating individual identities

gendered identities

Jewish identity

Examples: Perceptions of the economics of the net Computer location at home and surfing

habits Teenage girls and social networking Perceptions of ethical issues in downloading Comparing IM to face to face interactions Homosexual support group on the net Choice of home-pages Mutual-aid on the net Civic activities on the net Forwarding behaviors