Kids deceiving parents with net use

 

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Posted on 18 Mar 2009 at 17:14

Parents need to "clue up" on what their children are doing online, according to Symantec. The company's research showed that UK kids are spending more than twice as much time on the web as their parents think they are, and a third of them say their parents have no idea what they view online.

The average UK child spends 43.5 hours per month on the net, while parents estimate that their children only spend 18.8 hours. All of the parents surveyed in Symantec's global survey think their kids spend less time online than they actually do, but UK parents have one of the largest perception gaps.

Despite not knowing what their children are doing on the net, British parents are leading the way in trying to protect their kids online and 54 per cent of them have set parental controls on web usage, the second highest percentage globally. One in five parents have caught their children viewing something they disapproved of, and reprimanded them for their behaviour.

Marian Merritt, Symantec's internet safety advocate, suggests holding an open and frank discussion with your children about what they do online.

"It's not about coming down hard on them when they encounter inappropriate content, as the internet is a great place to learn and to play, but there have to be boundaries," she said. "Kids in the UK are pretty internet savvy, and parents need to keep up. We are encouraged by what we're seeing, but there's still work to be done by parents."

Symantec also highlighted that almost a third of UK children are adding their parents as friends on Facebook, and suggested that the internet is helping close the generation gap.

Relationship psychologist Mo Shapiro suggests that the net is now a "children's playground", and said that children should not be prevented from exploring their online environments.

"We are naive if we believe that parents will always know exactly where their children are online or anywhere else," she said. "They need ground rules to help them understand what is and isn't safe. What's encouraging about these results is that open discussions are taking place and maintained on the topic, and children know that they can turn to mum and dad for advice and guidance about online behaviour."

Author: Dawinderpal Sahota