Survey: Teenage girls much more affected by internet than boys

Ljubljana – Primary and secondary school girls are much more preoccupied and negatively affected by the internet and online content than boys, shows a survey carried out by the Safe.si awareness centre. Girls are more likely to feel pressure, compare themselves with others, experience too little sleep or be affected by negative comments.

The survey was carried out in February and March among 486 girls and boys in the last three years of primary school and among 246 secondary school students.

The survey finds that four-fifths of the surveyed girls feel overwhelmed by the internet, social media and mobile phones as opposed to two-thirds of the boys.

A total of 70% of primary school girls and 79% secondary school girls fell they have to answer a message as soon as possible, with the shares for boys at 48% and 59%, respectively.

As many as 56% of primary school girls and 75% of girls in secondary school experience a shortage of sleep as a result of internet use, with the shares for boys at 37% and 45%.

Girls are also more likely to compare their looks with those of others on the internet or social media.

The difference between girls and boys in comparing their facial and body image with online images is 40 points to the detriment of girls.

And almost two thirds of girls and one third of boys feel that the lives of those they see online are better than theirs.

The differences are also significant when it comes to feeling unhappy with own appearance while watching perfect postings online – 31% of primary schools girls and 43% of girls in secondary school experience discomfort, which compares to only 8% and 10% for boys.

Both negative and positive online experiences also affect girls more than boys, but the difference between the two groups is the smallest in positive feedback – slightly more than 80% of girls in primary and secondary school feel good when their online image is praised, compared to just over 60% boys in primary and 75% in secondary school.

Negative feedback again hurts girls more than boys; for instance, 44% of primary schools girls and 51% of secondary school girls feel bad when their postings get negative comments, whereas the proportions for boys are 18% and 17%, respectively.

Safe.si is a centre promoting safe and responsible use of the internet under the wing of the Centre for Social Informatics at the Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences.

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