By the end of December 2014, the number of teenage netizens in China had reached 277 million, accounting for 42.7 percent of the total number of Chinese netizens, according to a survey released during the 2nd National Network Security Awareness Week recently. 58.4 percent of teenage netizens are dependent or relatively dependent on the internet, 60.1 percent of them trust online information and 54.6 percent of them believe that the network environment of China is safe - all higher than other age groups.

The survey, conducted by China Internet Network Information Center, said that teenagers are less experienced and more reliant on online information, so they are more vulnerable when facing network security issues.

Zhang Huimin, senior engineer of network and information security research department of the Electronic Science and Technology Intelligence Research Institute, said that enhancing the network security awareness of teenagers is very important to society as a whole. Many countries, including the US, Germany and Japan, have enacted special laws on teenage network security.

Li Yuxiao, director of the Institute of Internet Governance and Law of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, said that network security education for teenagers is a practical need for China’s internet development, and teenagers should learn to adapt to, live and grow in the internet environment.

The article is edited and translated from《中國青少年網民規模達2.77億 6成信任互聯網信息》, source: Beijing Times.