Do you believe that your kids tell you everything? A new survey reveals that with most kids, this is not the case- especially in regards to their Internet use.
According to over 1000 kids interviewed by cyber security firm McAfee, 70% revealed that their parents don’t know everything that they get up to online - and 45% would change their online habits if they knew their parents were watching. They frequently delete their Internet history, use private mode, and minimise the pages they are looking at so prying parental eyes can’t sticky beak. They also create fake social media accounts to fool us. Cheeky things!
But a teenager pulling the wool over their parents’ eyes is nothing new. Kids aren’t getting sneakier. Teenagers are sneaky. It’s compulsory for everyone between the ages of 12 and 18 to tell porky pies, just for the heck of it. It’s a time when they are developing a sense of self and in doing that, there are going to be secrets.
The scary stuff is that the study also revealed that 40% of kids had been a victim of cyberbullying, and that twice that amount of kids had witnessed it.
Parents need to be clued in to what their kids are doing online. We need to get up to speed with social media and technology.
Experts also recommend keeping the computer, tablet and phone use in a place with family around, like the lounge room, and ban kids using them in their bedroom.
It’s a tough new world for parents, but we need to get up to speed to look after our precious babies.
Read our tips from McAfee's CyberMum Alex Merton Mc-Cann on how you can keep your kids safe online and educating your kids about online privacy.
No comments:
Post a Comment