Online identity firm Garlik commissioned research among 500
children aged 8–15 and 500 parents across the UK. Its findings
suggest that 40% of children regularly visit websites that are
prohibited by their parents. Many divulge personal details without
parental consent, including full name (30%), home address (12%),
mobile number (20%), home telephone number (10%), school details
(46%) and family photos (9%).
One in five children in Britain has met up with someone first
encountered online and five percent do so on a regular basis. Only
seven percent of parents are aware that their children are doing
this.
Eleven percent of children have been bullied online – with
victims intimidated by email or on chat-rooms – yet only half have
spoken to their parents about their ordeals.
Despite 90% of parents monitoring their offspring’s internet
activities, more than half of the 8–15 year-olds questioned
admitted to surfing the internet when their parents didn’t know,
often late at night.
Garlik CEO Tom Ilube said: “Our research is a shocking wake-up
call to all parents in the UK to sit down with their children and
talk about how to keep safe online. The web is a wonderful
place to explore but young people continue to make themselves
vulnerable by not applying the same caution online as they would in
person.”
Garlik’s top tips for parents
- Keep internet-connected computers in a central and open
location, particularly for younger children.
- Sit down and talk to your children about their online
activity. You should know everyone on your children's contact
list.
- For younger kids, make sure you know all their
passwords. Don’t intrude, but let them know that you know,
just in case.
- Tell your children not to provide personal details
online. No full names, addresses or telephone numbers.
- Devise a code of conduct – list of internet rules – that you
and your children agree to sign up to.
