This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Nearly two-thirds of Australian children surveyed in a recent study received at least one form of grooming-related communication from a stranger online in the past year, while almost one-third reported receiving direct requests for sexual information or interactions. The study, led by Adelaide University, involved an online survey of roughly 300 Australian children ages 10 to 17.
It was designed to broadly reflect the demographic characteristics of the Australian population and provide a snapshot of children's online experiences rather than nationally representative estimates. Published in Child Abuse & Neglect, the research was undertaken by Adelaide University in collaboration with researchers from eSafety, the Australian Institute of Criminology and Michigan State University. "The most common experiences involved communication related to trust-building, personal questions and risk-assessment behaviors, such as strangers discussing common interests and asking about a child's life, relationships or online activities," said lead researcher Dr.
Katie Logos from Adelaide University's School of Society and Culture. "More explicit solicitation-related communication, such as directly requesting sexual information, conversations or images, was less common but still experienced by a substantial number of children, with around one in five children being asked by someone they only knew online to send photos or videos of themselves or to meet up in person." Many children reported feeling indifferent about these interactions, often believed they were communicating with another child rather than an adult, and commonly responded by doing nothing or restricting the communicator from contacting them. "This suggests some grooming behaviors may blend into ordinary online conversations and might be difficult to recognize," Logos said.
"While some of the interactions may genuinely have involved other young people, children often cannot verify who is behind an account, highlighting concerns about adults posing as children to gain trust." Another key finding was that children who used common online safety measures, such as privacy settings, parental guidance or age-appropriate platforms, were just as likely to report receiving grooming-related communication as those who did not. "This does not mean these safety measures are ineffective. It is possible that some children adopted stronger safety practices after experiencing these interactions," said researcher Professor Russell Brewer, from Adelaide University's School of Society and Culture and director of the Australian Cybercrime Observatory.
"While these strategies remain important for staying safe online, our findings suggest they may not completely prevent children from being exposed to grooming-related communication." Logos said the prevalence of grooming-related communication was higher than expected and above rates reported in previous studies, which have typically found rates ranging from around 5% to 30%. "One reason for this difference is that we examined a broader range of behaviors that can form part of the grooming process, while existing research often focuses more narrowly on overtly sexual or unwanted solicitation from adults," Logos said. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. d research that matter—daily or weekly.
"We also asked about interactions with any online stranger, rather than limiting questions to people children believed were adults. This is important because grooming often involves subtle relationship-building tactics, and many offenders are known to pretend to be children online." Logos said online grooming can take many forms and can be difficult to recognize, often beginning through social media, online games or messaging apps. "Many interactions can seem friendly or harmless at first.
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