More than a half of French parents believe their children are safe online, but children say they do face problems, according to recent research.

by Rune H. Rasmussen

2 surveys conducted by e-enfance in France in 2009 shows that 53% of parents think their children are reasonably safe on the Internet. Most parents are not concerned about private data issues (78%), grooming and dangerous contact (77%) and Cyberbullying (84%).

Unfortunately, the research report leaves no doubt that children do face problems online. More than half of children (53%) say they see dangerous content and 48% receive invitations to meet with strangers. About four in ten are victims of Cyberbullying and one in four (25%) are victims of hacking or impersonation. That percentage increases for girls (45%).

Talking with children about online activities
The results from the surveys also suggest that parents do not warn their children sufficiently about the potential dangers related to Internet use and do not monitor their children’s online activities. In fact, more than half of children say that they can do whatever they want online and their parents have no idea what they are doing.

• 43% of parents do not have a consistent set of rules for their children’s online activities. At the same time, 65% of children do not follow at least one of the rules their parents did set up.

• Only one third of French parents talk about the Internet with their children.

• Two in three do not tell their children never to answer online requests from strangers.

• 92% of parents do not tell their children that not all the information on the Internet is reliable.

Parental control tools
While more than half of the parents have installed parental control software on the family or the child’s personal computer, most of them don’t know the main characteristics of these tools.

• Different profiles can be created for each family member. This allows you to protect your children against unwanted websites. You can block websites in their entirety, certain pages, or a specific content/theme.

• It is possible to get an overview over how much time your children spend online, and to program a time limited access to the Internet.

• Contact lists on chat services such as MSN and Windows Live can be controlled.

• You can, to a certain extent, make sure that children can’t use “adult” or violent games.

Mobile phones
The surveys also show that an increasing number of children (30%) are using their mobile phones to surf the Internet. But still, over 94% of parents did not opt-in for parental control on the mobile phone because they didn’t know about it (55%) or because they trusted their children (34%).

No parental control tools are completely safe
Be aware that no filters and parental control tools are completely safe. Kids and Media recommends that parents have an open and continuous dialogue with their children regarding a safe and healthy use of the Internet. The most important filter is not on your computer, but in the heart and the mind of the user.

Set rules when the children are young
A statement from e-enfance, underlines the importance of teaching children a healthy critical sense at an early age:

“It is vital to teach the children how to stay safe on the Internet between 6 and 11 years old, because passed this age, it is very difficult for the parents to set rules that children will follow online”.

Information about the surveys:
IPSOS/e-enfance, December 2008: 508 parents of children aged 6 to 17 years old.
IPSOS/e-enfance, April-May 2009: 500 children aged 9 to 17 years old.

Source:

Insafe
What parents think Vs what children really do online

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