A whopping majority of Dublin parents are worried about their children online, according to a new study.
According to research of parents of kids aged between four and 14 years old, 68 per cent of children in Dublin use connected devices daily, and over half of Dublin’s children (58 per cent) are online for 1 to 3 hours per day. Around 67 per cent of parents are anxious about their child meeting strangers online and 58 per cent are worried about exposure to explicit content.
The new Vodafone Ireland study says 64 per cent of parents are troubled by a lack of control over their children’s internet use with and just over half (52 per cent) worried that their children might unwittingly fall victim to a cyber-attack or online virus. 55 per cent feel that it is hard for their child to focus on schoolwork when they have access to other online platforms.
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The Dublin parents surveyed confirmed that three-quarters of the content their children are accessing is for entertainment reasons, 62 percent for gaming, 16 percent of children’s device use is for reading and almost four in ten children (37 percent) are online for e-learning.
Dublin parents’ other reasons for concern on internet access for children:
52 percent are not aware of how they use the internet
37 percent think their information may become public via a data leak
27 percent think their digital footprint may be a disadvantage in the future
24 percent think they could lose money to hackers or scams
ISPCC Childline Chief Executive John Church said: “Technology and the internet are almost fully embedded in our children’s lives today.
“As a result, they have few opportunities to switch off completely. It’s important that children and young people, with the support of their parents and caregivers, talk about the best way to ensure that they are safe online."
And Head of Segment at Vodafone Ireland Claire Reynolds added: “Many parents and guardians in Dublin are worried and don’t feel informed when it comes to protecting their children online.
"We are delighted to provide technology that allows parents more control over their children’s activity and accessibility with features such as focus time, content filtering, pause and bedtime. This gives customers more confidence that time online is spent safely and that children and loved ones are not being exposed to unsuitable content, phishing scams and other attacks on their devices."
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