Broadband News

A quarter of parents don’t know what their kids do online

Tuesday, 24 November 2009

By Garnet Roach garnet@consumerchoices.co.uk

Children spend an average of 36 minutes a day doing something their parents would disapprove of online, according to research from TalkTalk Broadband (www.TalkTalk.co.uk).

One in four kids told the cheap broadband provider that their parents had no idea what they did online, with a massive 62% admitting to lying about their internet activities.

The research found that parents would disapprove of around 28% of their children’s online activities, averaging 36 minutes a day.

Of those kids that had lied to their parents about what they get up to online, 44% boasted that they could easily hide any “unsuitable” activities from their parents, with 53% admitting to having simply deleted their browser history in order to erase their online footprint.

Worryingly, 44% of parents said that they never check their child’s browser history to see what sites they have been visiting and a quarter had no idea what security level their search engine filter was set at.

The research is part of the TalkTalk Brighter Sparks campaign, aimed at improving parents’ understanding and awareness of how to look after their kids online.

Professor Tanya Byron, author of the Brighter Sparks guide, said: “TalkTalk’s research reveals the predicament facing Britain’s parents. We know the internet is increasingly important in our children’s lives, but many parents are still deeply ignorant about what goes on online. Not surprisingly, too many of us panic and either try to ignore this new technology - allowing our kids to use it unsupervised - or ban our kids from using it entirely.”

The average parent thought that their child would have around 32 online friends they had never met, but the reality was more than double that, at an average of 75.

Michael Phillips, Broadbandchoices.co.uk product director, added: “As well as being hugely popular for social networking, the internet is a great learning tool for kids, and they should be encouraged to make the most of it.

“However, it’s vital that parents educate their children on how to be safe online. Parents need to understand the internet and what their kids are doing online as well as being able to set up appropriate parental controls and security measures to protect their kids.”

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