UK children go online: surveying the experiences of young people and their parents

Abstract

The research project: UK Children Go Online (UKCGO) aims to offer a rigorous and timely investigation of 9-19 year olds’ use of the internet. The project balances an assessment of online risks and opportunities in order to contribute to developing academic debates and policy frameworks for children and young people’s internet use. The research was funded by an Economic and Social Research Council grant under the ‘e-Society’ Programme, with co-funding from AOL, BSC, Childnet-International, Citizens Online and ITC. This report presents key findings from a major national, inhome, face to face survey, lasting some 40 minutes, of 1,511 9-19 year olds and 906 parents of the 9-17 year olds, using Random Location sampling across the UK (see Annex). It complements the project’s recent qualitative report on young people’s experiences of the internet. The fieldwork, conducted via multi-media computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) with children and a paper questionnaire to their parents, took place between 12 January and 7 March 2004. In this report of findings from the UKCGO survey, all percentages have been weighted in accordance with population statistics.