Children spend most of their time on the Internet, yet we do not pay enough attention to their safety

The use of the Internet is now an integral part of children's daily lives, and the distinction between the offline and online worlds is becoming less and less clear, according to a recently published survey of more than 3,300 children and parents in the United Kingdom.

Children in Ofcom's research were mostly confident in their ability to distinguish between real and fake online content, but this was not consistent with when the research firm tested it under simulated conditions: the participants were able to recognize a fake social media profile, but they easily succumbed to misinformation, for example.

In addition, the harmful side of being online was also revealed in the survey, as the answers revealed that one in three children had seen something on the Internet that worried them or outright upset them, moreover, countless of them had been victims of bullying on social media, online games, messaging or while using video chat applications.

As the child grows, parental attention becomes less and less

The survey also examined parental attitudes. Although they are mostly sure that they have enough knowledge to keep their child safe on the Internet, most of them still do not know what approach to follow regarding their child's use of the Internet. According to the parents' confession, they actively monitor their children's online presence, but at the same time, the answers also revealed that this decreases more and more as the children grow.

A previous Yettel survey among Hungarian parents reached a similar conclusion: that is, as the child grows, parents pay less and less attention to their online activities. Online bullying and behavior receives much less attention than, for example, school issues, while cyberbullying, i.e. online bullying, affects teenagers the most.

On the World Wide Web only consciously

An average child gets their first phone at the age of eleven, and often three or four-year-olds already have access to their parents' tablets or laptops, so they inevitably come into contact with the largely unrestricted and unregulated world of the Internet. Parents have an easier time while the little ones just want to watch a fairy tale, however, when the child is already on his or her way to the world wide web, many parents do not know how to be able to protect their child. This is helped by the large mobile book of Parents, which, with the case studies and advice of Will Geddes, a British cyber security expert, tries to give parents clues about how they can be a part of our child's online life. Now, in collaboration with Yettel and Forbes, the book is also available online: it covers the topic of safe internet use through 14 chapters, starting with the creation of healthy technological conditions, sexting, and preventing pornography and violent content. In connection with the start of the school year, Yettel is announcing a TudatosNet promotion from August 18. In the promotion, it offers four types of devices attractive to children and young people - a smartphone, two types of tablets and a smart watch - at a discount, with a knowledge pack as part of the offer, i.e. direct access to the 14 online chapters of the Parents' Big Mobile Book on a weekly basis.

(Source: marmalade.co.hu; Yettel | Image: pixabay.com)