Survey shows Israeli youth at predators' risk while playing online games
Aug 11, 2023
Tel Aviv [Israel], August 11 (ANI/TPS): Findings from the first survey of its kind in Israel published by the Ministry of National Security through the National Headquarters for Child Protection and the Office of the Chief Scientist found that more than 40 per cent of Israeli youth playing online games were exposed to inappropriate content, especially violence, sexual content and obscene offers.
About 66 per cent reported an injury to some party.
The survey was titled “Risks in the World of Gaming.”
The survey was carried out in the fourth quarter of 2022 among 435 interviewees aged 12-18, from a representative sample of the population in Israel, excluding the ultra-orthodox population, which shuns the Internet.
The survey showed that:
70 per cent of the youth in Israel play online games: 84 per cent among boys compared to 57 per cent among girls.
Higher percentages were recorded in Arab Youth, 82 per cent compared to 66 per cent in Jewish youth.
86 per cent of online game players use chat services (chat and voice calls), mainly in the “Discord” app and the game services themselves.
Over 50 per cent of the players went into a private room with another player they didn’t know while playing the game and 18 per cent of the players went into a private chat with a person they didn’t know.
About 25 per cent of the teenagers reported that they were asked for personal details already in the first game played with someone they did not know before. Higher rates were recorded among girls (about 30 per cent) and among teenagers from Arab society (about 35 per cent).
Over 40 per cent of the youth were exposed to inappropriate content, including bullying and bullying, sexual content and even obscene offers. Particularly high rates of exposure to inappropriate content were recorded among girls (about 47 per cent). (ANI/TPS)
