Children who spend hours on the internet are at risk of becoming socially isolated from friends and family. The hours they spend online could be used in social activities such as sports clubs or other hobbies. It is children who are spending hours of unmonitored time on the internet that are at the most risk. ESET Ireland previously did research which revealed that up to 73% of Irish children are left unsupervised online (The Irish Examiner, 2013). While the internet can be a great place for children to socialise it is who they are socialising with that is the problem. The internet’s nature allows an individual to be anonymous if they wish. Because of this children are at risk of being contacted by child predators because they never really know who they are talking to. Something as innocent as trying to make a pen pal online could turn out to be an interaction with a child predator. Places such as chat rooms provide the greatest opportunity for exploitation of children. Predators lure children in by talking about topics that are of interest to them. This can often be obtained through the child’s social networking site if they do not have their profiles on private. In 82% of online sex crimes against minors, the offender used the victim's social networking site to gain information about the victim's likes and dislikes (Journal of Adolescent Health, …show more content…
Kidshealth.org (2013) defines cyber bullying as “the use of technology to harass, threaten, embarrass, or target another person.” Cyber bullying can take many forms, these include: sending mean or threating messages through email or text, spreading rumours online or by text and posting or sending unflattering pictures of a person.
Cyberbullying can have long lasting, detrimental effects on children, for example depression and anxiety. A study carried out by Dr. Manuel Gamez-Guadix of the University of Deusto in Spain found that children who experience cyberbullying are more likely to develop depression. There is also a strong link between cyberbullying and suicide. According to bullyingstatistics.org (2015) suicide is the third leading cause of death with over 4000 deaths among young people every year and for every death there is approximately 100 suicide