Children and Adolescent Risk Environment Characterization to Use Information Technologies and Communications (ICT): Case Merida, Venezuela

To care and protect children is, undoubtedly, one of the most important indicators of civic development in society. In the context of relationships established between the children and new technologies, especially the Internet, there have been two positions: one of them is in favor to use Internet as an educational tool and the other one establishes the need to protect children against the risks of its use. This paper describes the results of a research carried out in 2009-2010 in the city of Mérida, Venezuela. We used statistical analysis to establish statistically significant relationships between the characteristics of minors who use the Internet and their likelihood of being victims of crime through web. Results allowed us to define the profiles of young who lives in Merida in relation to technologies and the risk of its use, emphasizing that 5 of 10 children interviewed had had personal contact with individuals that they knew through the internet. Finally, it could be proven that the likelihood of risk that children and youth users of Information Technology and Communication ICT, is determined by the modes of use (time and place of use, safety measures, etc.) and certain demographic characteristics (age, education level, etc.).