Prof. Mary Anne Lauri and PhD Candidate Lorleen Farrugia from the Department of Psychology in the Faculty for Social Wellbeing have published the Maltese results of the EU Kids Online survey. The publication 'Access, Use, Risks and Opportunities for Maltese Children on the Internet' is based on a survey carried out with 1234 children aged between 9 and 16.

Maltese children have widespread access to the internet and 77% of children use their smartphone to go online. Smartphone use increases with age going up to 92% for children between 15 and 16 years of age. The most common activities carried out by children are those related to communication and entertainment.

The preliminary findings were presented at the conference Digital Technologies: Use, Misuse and Abuse organised by the Lisa Marie Foundation. 

A printed copy of the result may be obtained by contacting Prof. Mary Anne Lauri or Ms Lorleen Farrugia

19 other European countries participated in this research project and the  comparative results are available online.

The EU Kids Online research in Malta was coordinated by the University of Malta, in collaboration with the Malta Communications Authority, the Directorate for Learning and Assessment Programmes and the Secretariat for Catholic Education, with the support of the Besmartonline! consortium (Tech.mt, Commissioner for Children, Foundation for Social Welfare Services and the Cybercrime Unit).