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Parents failing to monitor children's Internet activity
1st August 2008
www.broadbandchoices.co.uk
The summer holidays are in full swing as millions of children
across the UK have broken up from school. More time at home
means more time spent on facebook, chatting to friends online
and downloading music – but are parents actually monitoring
what their children are doing online?
• 84% of parents rely on verbal agreements to ensure
their children ‘surf safely’
• 45% of children use chatrooms to make new friends
• 40% use facebook and myspace
• 48% regularly use downloads
According to a survey carried out by YouGov in September
2007, the answer is a resounding “No.” The
research found that 84% of parents across the UK said they
rate verbal agreement with their children as their number
one way of monitoring online activity.
The poll also asked
children aged 11-16 what they spent the most time doing
online during the school holidays which revealed that 48%
download music, 45% use chat rooms to make new friends
online and 40% use social networking sites such as Facebook
and MySpace.
These results have child safety implications as well as
legal and financial ones. They are particularly significant
in light of the government’s announcement that parents
are to be punished if their child downloads music and films
illegally.
Households can be blacklisted and have their internet
access curbed or suspended if they do not follow the rules,
meaning parents will be forced to take stronger measures
to supervise their child’s online activity.
We were surprised to learn that such a high proportion
of parents heavily rely on verbal agreements to ensure their
children’s online activities are safe and legal. Children
are often more tech-savvy than their parents and the click
of a mouse can take them anywhere. This research highlights
the need for parents to be aware of the simple checks they
can put in place to safeguard children who are increasingly
using the internet to build new relationships.
As well as the possible safety issues, there are financial
implications to your child’s internet activities. With
48% downloading music online it would be easy to exceed your
broadband fair usage limit leaving unsuspecting parents out
of pocket at the end of the month.
We recommend the following steps to
help busy parents effectively monitor their child’s
online activity:
1. Parental control software:
Some ISPs like AOL and BT offer parental controls as part
of their service, while other users can get them with their
antivirus and security suites. Parental controls allow you
to block certain sites and keywords, apply different settings
for different age groups and monitor your child’s online activity. You can also use the Messenger
Plus! program to keep a log of conversations they might be
having using Instant Messenger.
2. Education: Completely banning
older children from the Internet is unlikely to stop them
from using chatrooms and social networking sites, so instead,
explain why they need to be careful on the Internet and make
sure they know never to give out personal information or
meet strangers without an adult around.
3. All on one PC: Keeping the
family computer in the living room is a great way of ensuring
that your children stay safe online. They’re far less likely to spend time in chatrooms
or downloading illegally if their parents are in the same
room. Also, make sure that you’re set as the administrator
on any PC in the home, so that only you can change the settings
on your parental control software.
4. Antivirus and firewall software:
Using security software to protect your PC will also protect
your child from spam emails with inappropriate content, and
phishing emails where they could give out personal information
including bank details.
5. Monitor downloads: If you’re
concerned about the affect your children’s downloading
is having on your monthly usage allowance, use a Download
Monitor such as ours to keep an eye on downloads and set
alarms to alert you when you near your limit.
BroadbandChoices.co.uk’s download monitor download |
