STATS out last week showed that four out five children aged between eight and 12 are allowed to use phones and other smart devices unsupervised in their bedrooms.
The findings by CyberSafeKids highlight a significant lack of parental engagement in monitoring online activities and a troubling lack of awareness of digital safety risks.
The group has now launched its fourth Same Rules Apply awareness campaign in order to empower parents with essential knowledge for safeguarding their children online.
Writing in The Irish Sun today, Alex Cooney CEO of CyberSafeKids, says that while we wait for laws to make Big Tech truly accountable, parents will need to step up to the plate on digital parenting...
WHEN was the last time you asked your child, What are you doing online? What are you watching or playing, or who are you talking with?
This interest is key to helping us as parents become more involved in our children’s online lives.
Over the past year, the focus on online safety for children has intensified with discussions around their protection in the digital landscape gaining momentum globally, particularly following significant legislative actions in countries such as Australia, which has introduced legislation to ban social media access for children under 16.
Although Australia has shown itself to be a world leader on e-safety, having appointed an eSafety Commissioner long before we did, I’m not convinced this new law is going to solve the problem that it sets out to address.
Any new legislation needs to focus on addressing harmful features across any and all platforms in which children gather—ensuring safety by design and by default.
The reality is that these spaces were not designed for children and with children in mind and, as a consequence, present risks to children – particularly in relation to inappropriate content and harmful contact.
From a parent’s perspective, we’re really up against it in trying to keep our kids safe online, and for sure, it can feel like a losing battle when, no matter what we do to try and safeguard them, porn or extreme violence are just a click away.
HOW TO KEEP CHILDREN SAFER ONLINE?
So what can we do to keep children safer online? Does this responsibility lie with parents, schools, government, or tech companies?
As Ireland’s online safety charity, we believe that all these stakeholders share the responsibility, and a collaborative approach is essential for the best interests of our children.
While it’s encouraging to see parents come together to hold off on giving smart devices and online access to their children before they are developmentally ready, our latest survey of over 2,000 primary school children reveals a concerning lack of parental engagement in monitoring online activities and awareness of digital safety risks.
Only 35 per cent of children reported that their parents or caregivers can see what they do online, and a staggering 82 per cent of 8-12 year-olds have unsupervised access to smart devices in their bedrooms, increasing their risk of exposure to inappropriate sexual or violent content or contact from strangers.
These findings highlight that many children are left with an unsupervised and unfettered access to the internet, and that makes them vulnerable.
We need to be involved and engaged in their online lives to the same extent as their offline lives.
Until tech companies are truly held accountable, parents must take the lead in ensuring a safer online environment for their children.
We need to educate and talk to children about inappropriate content they may encounter online, help them recognise harmful situations, and establish rules for their online activities.
We also need to keep an eye on what they’re seeing and doing online.
Our Same Rules Apply campaign seeks to support parents in approaching children’s online lives with the same care and supervision that we apply to their offline lives.
ONLINE SAFETY
However, it’s not solely the parents’ responsibility; Big Tech must also be compelled to create safer online spaces for children.
The introduction of a mandatory online safety and media literacy programme in schools is also essential for keeping children safer online.
This would ensure that discussions about online risks and opportunities continue both at home and in the classroom.
With Meta’s recent rollback of safety measures like content moderation and fact-checking, the need for such education is more critical than ever, especially as many users, including children, consume so much of their news from these platforms.
New regulations in 2025 will require tech companies, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), social media platforms, and gaming companies to implement robust age verification, filter harmful content such as pornography and self-harm, enhance accountability and transparency, and take greater responsibility for safeguarding the children using their services.
We urgently need to create a digital landscape in which children’s safety is the top priority.
- More about the Same Rules Apply campaign can be found at cybersafekids.ie/samerulesapply
The introduction of a mandatory online safety and media literacy programme in schools is also essential for keeping children safer online[/caption]
