ZAGREB, 19 Dec (Hina) – As many as 82% of children aged 10 to 16 have their own mobile phone for accessing the internet, and around a quarter of them have received sexual messages in the past year, it was said on Friday at the presentation of the study “Digital Childhood in Croatia”, conducted as part of the EU Kids Online project.
“What is particularly worrying is that one in three children received such messages from a person they do not know at all, which points to a high level of children’s exposure to unwanted sexual approaches in the digital environment,” said national project coordinator Lana Ciboci Perša.
She added that this represents an exceptional increase, as the most recent previous survey from 2017 showed that around 8%В of children in Croatia were exposed to online sexual content at that time.
According to the latest survey results, sexual voice messages, words, images, photos or videos in the past year were received by 16% of children aged 11, 14% of those aged 12, 18% of those aged 13, 29% of 14-year-olds, 37% of 15-year-olds and as many as 40% of children aged 16.
There is no significant difference between girls and boys in the frequency of receiving sexual messages.
Feeling safer online than with other people
On the other hand, the study shows that most children in Croatia aged 10 to 16 feel safe online and know what to do if someone behaves in a way they dislike on the internet. One in four children finds it easier to express themselves online than in face-to-face interactions, the study says.
Despite feeling safe online, children frequently encounter distressing experiences. In the past year, once a month or more often, one in four children aged 10 to 16 (27%) experienced something online that upset or disturbed them.
The highest share of children reporting disturbing online experiences once a month or more often in the past year were 16-year-olds (31%), while the lowest was among 10-year-olds (11%).
Children are also exposed to inappropriate content and hate speech, most commonly conspiracy theories (23%), content related to extreme thinness (21%), self-harm (18%), pornography (17%), and graphic or violent images (17%).
Most of these exposures show no significant gender differences, although girls more often report content related to extreme thinness and eating disorders, while boys more frequently encounter pornographic content.
Artificial intelligence used to write essays
For the first time, the study also provides data on children’s use of generative artificial intelligence (AI), with rather alarming results.
Only one in five children (21%) had not used AI tools in the past month. Children most commonly use them to write essays or stories for school.
Experts warn that it is concerning that nearly one in three children uses AI to talk and seek advice about their physical health or fitness, as well as to discuss personal worries in order to obtain advice.
Boys and girls use artificial intelligence equally for all of these purposes. The only statistically significant difference was found in the creation of deepfakes, which boys create more often.
The findings point to an urgent need for systematic public policy measures to strengthen digital literacy, encourage parental mediation, and ensure better mental health support for children in the digital age. It was also emphasised that the role of parents and schools is crucial, but currently insufficiently utilised.
“As many as 46% of parents never talk to their children about their mistakes online, and most do not use technical protection measures,” the study’s authors noted.
The research was conducted by the Society for Communication and Media Culture, as the national coordinator for the study’s implementation in Croatia, and the Agency for Electronic Media, based on a representative sample of children from primary and secondary schools across Croatia.
