Half of parents of young children have admitted secretly going through their kids’ phone – with disturbing results, according to new research.
A quarter were “shocked” by what they found after reading their offspring’s emails, Facebook posts and instant messages.
Four in 10 were alarmed to see their children discussing sex or sexual content on their devices, a quarter discovered evidence of their child being bullied and nearly half found them using offensive language.
As a result, one in five do not trust their children online and suspect they are accessing inappropriate content, according to a study of 2,000 parents of children aged 8-15 by internet and mobile security company BullGuard.
Cam Le, Chief Marketing Officer for BullGuard, said: “The research shows parents are understandably nervous about what their children are up to on the internet.
“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.
“With the internet ever evolving it’s no wonder mums and dads are troubled by what they see as a lack of control, however there are lots of steps they can take to help ensure their children are safe.”
The research revealed that during a typical weekend, the average child sends and receives over 100 emails, texts and instant messages.
Top 10 – Gadget rules used by parents
- No gadgets at the dinner table
- Parents must know passwords
- No phones, tablets and laptops in kids’ rooms at night
- No gadgets taken to school
- Specified time limit everyday
- Gadget ban until homework is finished
- No gadgets on school mornings
- Must be on good behaviour to use gadgets
- All gadgets must be on silent
- All gadgets must be loud so parents know when a message arrives
Top 10 – Alarming messages found by parents on their children’s phones
- Conversations using bad language
- Topics discussing sex/sexual content
- My child being bullied or spoken to badly
- Groups of young children excluding other children
- My child speaking to people badly
- Conversations about alcohol
- Conversations complaining about me/other parents
- Conversations about smoking
- My child being a bully
- Conversations about cheating in class/during exams
Let me know what you think.
All the Best & Speak to you tomorrow,
Naomi xxx
Please note: I am not the author of this news copy, I received the text via SWNS Digital Hub, and I thought it may interest you. I have, however, not shared the whole text due to its length, so if you are interested to read everything about their findings, please visit the news copy source via hyperlink.
Study Credit: BullGuard
News Copy: SWNS
