Teachers' Views about Child Abuse on the Internet

1. Teachers' Viewsabout Child Abuse on the Internet Yeşim YENİLMEZ Assoc.Prof. S. Sadi SEFEROĞLU Hacettepe University Institute of Science Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology Beytepe-ANKARA 2nd World Conference on Educational Technology Researches 27-30 June 2012, Near East University, Kyrenia, North Cyprus

2. Child Abuse on the Internet • Child abuse is not something new. Abusing children and youngster was a reality even before the Internet became widely available for many users. • However, with the Internet, giving misleading information by hiding information about identity and communicate with young children have become much easier. WCETR-2012, Near East University, 27-30 June 2012, Nicosia – North Cyprus

3. Child Pornography and Pedophilia • One of the most important threats on the Internet is pornographic contents. Children also can be used to prepare the pornographic contents. • An important reason for the high demands of child pornography is that the individuals who watch pornography have pedophilic tendencies (Erdoğan, 2010). WCETR-2012, Near East University, 27-30 June 2012, Nicosia – North Cyprus

4. Child Pornography and Pedophilia (2) • Erdoğan defines pedophilia as “Over a period of at least for 6 months, having repetitive stimulating sexual fantasies, sexual impulses or behaviors about engaging in sexual activity with a child or children who have not entered puberty yet.” WCETR-2012, Near East University, 27-30 June 2012, Nicosia – North Cyprus

5. Purpose of the study • Due to the rapid increase in the number of children among Internet users, raising children’s awareness about the dangers on the Internet is important. • The purpose of this study is to determine • teachers’ awareness about child abuse on the Internet. WCETR-2012, Near East University, 27-30 June 2012, Nicosia – North Cyprus

6. Methodology • This study is a descriptive study. • Data used in this study was originally collected for a thesis written by the first author under the advisement of the second author. • Only a small portion of the data collected for that research was used in this study. • Data of the study were collected in the fall semester of the academic year 2011-2012. WCETR-2012, Near East University, 27-30 June 2012, Nicosia – North Cyprus

7. Study Group • The working group of the study consisted of • 583 teachers who work in different cities of Turkey. • In terms of gender, • 61.2% of the participants were female and • 37.9% of them were male. WCETR-2012, Near East University, 27-30 June 2012, Nicosia – North Cyprus

8. Data Collection Tools • Personal Information Form • was used to collect information on demographic characteristics of participants such as • gender, • age and • type of school they work. • Awareness of Danger of Internet Questionnaire • was created to reveal the teachers' views about child abuse on the Internet contains • 13 items. WCETR-2012, Near East University, 27-30 June 2012, Nicosia – North Cyprus

9. Data Analysis • The data were analyzed using • frequency distributions and • percentages. WCETR-2012, Near East University, 27-30 June 2012, Nicosia – North Cyprus

10. Findings

11. Findings(2)

12. Findings (3) • While • 68.8% of teachers believe that • they have sufficient information about child abuse on the Internet, • only 11.1% of them believe that • they have not enough information about this subject. • Regardless of their knowledge level of the threats, a majority of the participants (90.8%) stated that • it was essential to be trained against dangers faced on the Internet. WCETR-2012, Near East University, 27-30 June 2012, Nicosia – North Cyprus

13. Findings (4) • When the teachers were asked whether their students were exposed to emotional or sexual abuse, • their answers on “undecided” scale were high (emotional abuse 45.6%, sexual abuse 28.3% respectively). • the reason of this situation might be that teachers’ observations about whether or not their students were exposed to abuse were inadequate. • Students can access the Internet at home and internet cafes by mobile phones wherever internet access is provided. • Teachers may not realize that their students were exposed to abuse. Fear, depression or behavioral disorders that may occur at the students’ side, after they experience the abuse, may cause them to be embarrassed. WCETR-2012, Near East University, 27-30 June 2012, Nicosia – North Cyprus

14. Findings (5) • 80.3% of the teachers think that the increase in internet literacy skills of families may reduce the probability of children to be exposed to abuse. • Research (*) supports this finding. • (*) EU Kids Online III Turkey (2010). Avrupa çevrimiçi çocuklar araştırma projesi Türkiye bulguları ön özeti. [Available online at: http://eukidsonline.metu.edu.tr/], retrieved on 13.10.2011. • Ybarra, M. L., & Mitchell, K. J. (2004). Youth engaging in online harassment: associations with caregiver-child relationships. Internet use and personal characteristics. Journal of Adolescence, 27, 319-336. WCETR-2012, Near East University, 27-30 June 2012, Nicosia – North Cyprus

15. Findings (6) • More than half of the teachers (65.2%) think • anyone who engages in child pornography is pedophilia. • However, findings of some studies (*) show that • there are some individuals who interested in child pornography • do it for only commercial reasons. • (*)Krone, T. (2004). A typology of online child pornography offending. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice, No: 279. Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra, Australia. [Available online at: http://aic.gov.au/documents/4/F/8/%7B4F8B4249-7BEE-4F57-B9ED-993479D9196D%7Dtandi279.pdf], Date of access: 10 Ekim 2011. • Polat, O. (2006). Çocukların cinsel sömürüsü raporu. 2006; 1-40. [Available online at : www.0-18.org/raporlar/cocuk_cinsel_somuru_rapor_01.doc], Date of access: 23 Nisan 2011. WCETR-2012, Near East University, 27-30 June 2012, Nicosia – North Cyprus

16. Conclusions and Recommendations • The majority of the teachers is generally aware of child abuse on the Internet. • But they were undecided about their students whether exposed to abuse or not on the Internet. • Also they considered that training about child abuse on the Internet should be needed. • According to these results, it can be said that educating teachers about this issue is extremely important to solve the problem. WCETR-2012, Near East University, 27-30 June 2012, Nicosia – North Cyprus

17. Conclusions and Recommendations (2) • For the continuity of the training for teachersrelevant school policies should be established. • In order to develop policies on this issue, school administrations can collaborate with information technologies teachers who happen to be knowledgeable on this subject in their school. WCETR-2012, Near East University, 27-30 June 2012, Nicosia – North Cyprus

18. Conclusions and Recommendations (3) • It can be suggested that • the teachers should converse with their students about the risk and threats that they may encounter on the Internet. • They also should be good observer of their children’s problems related to internet usage, and • should be part of the team to find solution to the problems they may face. WCETR-2012, Near East University, 27-30 June 2012, Nicosia – North Cyprus

19. Conclusions and Recommendations (4) • It can be said that • it is essential that the places where children play games and internet cafes are controlled more efficiently, especially the ones available for children around the schools. • It could be also suggested that • in order to improve service quality and ensuring the safety of children who use these places, • more rigorous rules and standards need to be designated and put into effect. WCETR-2012, Near East University, 27-30 June 2012, Nicosia – North Cyprus

20. This Presentation in Wordle WCETR-2012, Near East University, 27-30 June 2012, Nicosia – North Cyprus

21. Thank You! WCETR-2012, Near East University, 27-30 June 2012, Nicosia – North Cyprus