Sponsorship: Israel Internet Association In collaboration with:

1. Israeli Children Go-on-lineDafna Lemish, Tel Aviv UniversityRivka Ribak, University of HaifaResearch Coordinator: Rotem Alony, Tel Aviv University Sponsorship: Israel Internet Association In 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

2. Research Goals • 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

3. Who? • 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

4. What? • 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

5. When and where? • Spring-Summer 2006 • The entire country, all geographical areas and types of residencies

6. Main Findings: From Moral Panic to Responsible Parenting

9. centrality of the Interent

10. Prevalence of Internet use * Hours and minutes

11. media preferences Which one would you miss most if it disappeared tomorrow? (%)

12. child-parent skills Which of the following are you good at? (%)

13. Out-going content and In-coming content

14. Out-going content (%)

15. Out-going content (%)

16. out-going content - 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? (%)

17. Out-going content - Who do you speak to using instant messages? (%) Are the people you talked to during the last week:

18. In-coming content Overall, have you seen porn on TV / video or DVD / in magazines / on the internet? (%)

19. In-coming content - On the Internet - Have you ever… (%)

20. Child perceptions of threat 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

21. Child perceptions of threat 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)

22. Child perceptions of threat 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)

23. Child perceptions of threat 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)

24. Child perceptions of threat 1/6 – Technological dangers Viruses, bugs, dangers software, Trojan horse Single responses (older) – financial cheating, anorexia, addiction, dangerous sects

25. Comparing Child and Parent report about child (%)

26. Parent's activities What parents do when child is using the internet (Multiple response) %

27. Parental requests for help Which of these would help you to make sure that your child uses the internet effectively? %

28. Perceptions of Positive Aspects

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

30. Parental positive attitudes(%)

31. Children's News Consumption (%)

32. Internet Languages (%)

33. Arab children: Christian, Moslem and Druze • Kibbutz (communes) children • National-religious children • Work-migrants children • Former USSR children Analysis of special populations - case studies

34. Analysis of special populations - FSU immigrants • (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

35. 2. Integration outwards – source of nostalgia • social networking with homeland • 3. Identity explorations – re-affirming homeland identities • cultivating individual identities • gendered identities • Jewish identity

36. Qualitative analyses of interviews - 50 case studies • 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 • ComparingIM 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

37. To be continued... Thank you for your attention