Belgian children act 'recklessly' online, according to survey

Children in Belgium are much more reckless on the internet than their foreign peers, reports Het Laatste Nieuws based on a large-scale survey.

The survey was given to 5,000 boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 15 living in France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Benelux. It reveals that children from the Netherlands and Belgium are the most careless when it comes to surfing the internet.

More than four in 10 kids in Belgium say they have no agreements with their parents about internet browsing. They are therefore more likely to be exposed to content that is inappropriate for their age. More than one in four 10- to 15-year olds in Belgium indicated that they sometimes come across porn on the net, the highest rate in Europe.

Child Focus is alarmed by the results. "Just as parents try to make sure that their kids behave safely in traffic and eat healthy foods, they also have the responsibility to educate their children about how to act online," says Dirk Depover of Child Focus.