Research by McAfee and the Anti-Bullying Alliance has found that 14-15 year old teenagers are most likely to adopt risk-taking behaviours and overshare online; putting themselves in potentially harmful situations and at risk of cyber-bullying.The research reveals that 14-15 year olds spend more time on social media than any other age group, with a fifth spending over four hours logged on every day. These teens risk making themselves more vulnerable to abusive and bullying behaviours by digitally exposing themselves through sharing too much personal information online; 11% had shared revealing videos or photos of themselves, 1 in 10 had seen an inappropriate, revealing or pornographic image of someone they know online and 7% admitted to liking an unkind image of someone they know.With 14-15 year olds such prolific users of the internet, it is perhaps unsurprising that findings show this age group are putting themselves in potentially harmful situations by engaging in inappropriate behaviours online; and are most likely to access dangerous content, be exposed to cruel or mean behaviour and encounter unwelcome adult attention.Nearly a quarter (23%) of 14-15 year olds surveyed had seen a porn image online of someone they didnt know and 19% confessed to visiting a website that their parents would not approve of. In addition, over half of 14-15 year olds surveyed also confessed to hiding their online activity from parents, with nearly a quarter (24%) actively deleting their browsing history.
