Fostering and providing for up-to-date, reliable and robust evidence regarding risks and harm online, for children and for adults alike, is a key priority of NACOS. This report aims to provide up-to-date and robust data to inform policy debate around online safety, to identify trends and assist in prioritising issues for attention both now and in the future.
![](https://www.medialiteracyireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/NAOOS-report.png)
The research consisted of three nationally representative surveys – one of children, one of their parents, and a separate survey of adults. The report presents findings from each of these surveys.
Some key findings included:
- most children are positive about the Internet and say there are good elements for their age. 44% say this is very true and 39% say it is fairly true
- 62% of children and young people, aged 9-17 year, use social media. This rises from a quarter of 9–10-year-olds to nearly 90% of 15–17-year-olds
- 82% of parents or carers say that they would most prefer to receive online safety information from the child’s school with 60% currently receiving information this way