Disadvantaged children are more likely to experience harm online, new research has suggested.
A survey of children and parents appeared to show that pupils receiving free school meals generally experienced greater negative emotions than their peers.
Children’s online safety group Internet Matters said its research suggested that parents of children who receive free school meals are consistently more likely to report that their child has been exposed to a wide range of online harms.
It said that according to its survey, 74% had experienced at least one online harm, compared to 60% of those children not receiving free school meals.
The research was based on 1,138 parent and child interviews of children aged nine to 16 from August 2022, 970 interviews with parents of state school pupils aged eight to 16, and 1,030 interviews with state school pupils aged nine to 16 in May and June this year.
The survey results suggested children on free school meals were more likely to say that being online makes them sad (14% compared to 4% of pupils not on free school meals), worried about their appearance (17% compared with 8%), and jealous of other people (18% compared with 7%).
A quarter of free school meals children surveyed said they have more friends online than they do at school, compared with 19% of children who do not receive free school meals.
