Parents today have a different set of worries and concerns versus parents of the past. For one thing, technology leaves children susceptible to plenty of dangerous situations, including cyber bullying.
According to new research conducted by internet and mobile security expert BullGuard, six in ten worried parents monitor their children’s phones to see what they’re up to online.
The study focused on 2,000 parents and revealed that that one in five do not trust their children online and suspect they are accessing inappropriate content. A quarter of parents reported that they were shocked by what they found after reading through emails, Facebook posts and instant messages.
“The research shows parents are understandably nervous about what their children are up to on the internet” said Cam Le, Chief Marketing Officer for BullGuard. “Clearly parents want to protect their children from harm – yet they also to want to ensure their kids do not miss out on the fantastic things the web has to offer.
The findings
According to the research, during a typical weekend, the average child sends and receives over 100 emails, texts and instant messages. Over a third of parents admitted they look at their kids’ emails, while almost 40% read through their instant messages on apps such as Kik, Snapchat and WhatsApp.
Just over 55% look at their internet history and also check text messages.
More than a third of parents skim through their children’s Facebook and Instagram accounts to see what they are up to.
How much time do parents spend doing this? Checking up on their kids’ Internet activities is so routine that parents are spending an average of one hour and 45 minutes every week looking at their kids’ devices.
Half of parents sneak a peek while their kids are asleep, a 25% do it when they are at school and a third do it whenever their children are not looking.
Parents don’t necessarily feel good about it though. About 40% admitted they feel guilty for spying on them after they had found perfectly innocent messages.
Over one in ten admitted that their children know more about social media than they do and could “run rings around them”.
56% of parents enforce gadget rules
The research showed that the most popular rule set by parents is “no gadgets at the dinner table”. The second is they must know their children’s passwords and third is “no gadgets at bedtime”.
Alarming behavior
Four in ten said they were alarmed to see their children discussing sex or sexual content, while a quarter found evidence of their child being bullied. Nearly half found them using offensive language.
Even though they are the parents, close to 40% reported that they feel they have little or no control over their children’s online activities.
And over a third think their children could be up to “anything” online when they are claiming to be using the web for homework.
Nearly a quarter of parents have noticed their children quickly minimize windows when walking in unannounced.
Four in ten suspect their children have secret social media profiles and nearly half suspect their children delete content from their smartphone so no one can see it.
Nearly thirty per cent have parental controls set up on their children’s gadgets while over a quarter said their children have a pin code on their devices – and they don’t know what it is.
A staggering two thirds of mums and dads aren’t familiar with the apps their kids use.
Seven in ten said app developers could do more to help them keep an eye on what their children are up to.
“The wide range of ways people can now communicate weren’t available to modern parents when they were growing up, so there is certainly an element of the unknown when it comes to how best to protect children. Parents can put in place discrete parental controls which will help keep their kids safe but allow them to get the best out of the internet,” said Le.
“The steps they can take are simple and unimposing so children can have fun without missing out on what their friends are up to.”
Top 10 Gadget rules used by parents:
1. No gadgets at the dinner table
2. Parents must know passwords
3. No phones, tablets and laptops in kids’ rooms at night
4. No gadgets taken to school
5. Specified time limit everyday
6. Gadget ban until homework is finished
7. No gadgets on school mornings
8. Must be on good behavior to use gadgets
9. All gadgets must be on silent
10. All gadgets must be loud so parents know when a message arrives
Top 10 alarming messages found by parents on their child’s cellphone:
1. Conversations using bad language
2. Topics discussing sex/sexual content
3. My child being bullied or spoken to badly
4. Groups of young children excluding other children
5. My child speaking to people badly
6. Conversations about alcohol
7. Conversations complaining about me/other parents
8. Conversations about smoking
9. My child being a bully
10. Conversations about cheating in class/during exams
