ASSESSMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS' SAFE INTERNET USAGE

Abdulkadir Beder, Dr. Ertugrul Ergun

Ministry of National Education, Afyon Kocatepe University

Abstract

The increase of internet usage by people from all parts of society, especially children has increased the question of the importance of safe internet usage. In this study; it is aimed to determine the situation of safe internet usage among secondary school pupils, Sample of this study includes 503 secondary school pupils (255 girls, %50,7 and 248 boys, %49,3) who was studying in 5 schools (one private, 4 public schools) in the centre of Afyonkarahisar which have different socio-economic levels. The research was conculded in fall semester of 2014-2015 academic year. The research is based on survey model. During the data collection phase from pupils, video-assisted survey study is applied. The data obtained from this study is analyzed by using frequency, percentages, mean and standard deviation, one-way analysis of variance test (ANOVA) and t-test. According to the results of research; the usage of safe internet and the awareness of pupils are generally high. Girls were found to act more deliberatively than boys. It is found that 8th grade pupils had lower awareness level than 6th grade pupils. It is determined that there are some non-conscious situations such as copyright infringement and sharing information and media which can cause problems. Also, pupils were found to be indecisive about some software threats. To have a higher level of consciousness among all secondary school pupils, according to the results of this research, educational activities which will raise awareness about safe internet usage should be planned and applied.

Keywords

Conscious use of Internet, Online risks, Online security, Safe internet usage, Safety of children.

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