Internet Usage and Safety Behaviors of Primary School Students

Developments in Computer Technologies are rapidly spreading all over the world. The internet usage at the beginning of this spread is also manifested in every field. In particular, the use of the internet as a means of communication has made these technologies indispensable. Information sharing over social media and websites has become very common, shopping on the Internet, banking, education, games, media applications, etc. their operations have become indispensable in everyday life. All of these processes have caused people to share more personal information on the Internet, and security problems have come along. This may cause undesirable negative results. Children and young people in the primary education period are mostly exposed to these negative situations. Individuals in the development period are faced with difficulties in recovering from the negative situations on the internet. Although these problems are usually related to safety, psychological problems can occur at a later age. That's why we need to take measures to protect our children as much as possible. We must strive to make families more conscious about this issue. In this study, it was tried to determine the computer and internet usage behaviors of the students who are studying at the second level of primary education. A survey study was conducted about the what tools they use to connect to the Internet, their purpose of connection, how long they are connected internally, the security measures they take for connection, sharing with family, family control, etc. In this way, it is aimed to determine the behavior of information security. The survey was conducted with a total of 103 students, 58 male and 45 female students, who were in the second grade of primary education. The findings obtained from the opinions of the students were evaluated from different angles. Thus, we tried to raise awareness at the point of information security to students and families. Positive and negative effects on the students were revealed with the evaluations made.