Parents failing to protect their kids from online dangers

PARENTS who are not technology savvy are putting their children are at risk from exposure to unsuitable content on the internet, experts have warned.

Two separate studies, from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (Ceop) Centre and IT firm Westcoastcloud, have warned that not all parents have put controls on their computers to keep their youngsters safe online.

Further, even the majority of those who have put controls in place have not considered doing the same on other household devices that access the internet.

A Mori poll, commissioned by Ceop, showed that about 80 per cent of children in the UK, aged between five and 15, are regular users of the internet.

But the study from Westcoastcloud, a division of Glasgow-based cloud computing specialist Iomart, revealed that only half of parents have installed software to protect their offspring – a figure which dropped as low as a third in Edinburgh and Inverness – while only one in four has installed similar protection on the mobile phones, games consoles and television services.

However, one in five parents questioned said they had been concerned about something that had happened to their child while using the internet at home.

“Technology has transformed people’s lives both collectively and individually,” said Peter Davies, chief executive of the Ceop Centre and the senior police officer leading on child protection on the internet for the Association of Chief Police Officers.

“It has changed how we communicate and socialise and children and young people are at the forefront – the real internet pioneers. For them it provides immense opportunity and excitement.

“But too often we see examples of where the child is at risk because they make simple online mistakes – because they are lured in or push the boundaries too far and risk their safety.”

The organisation is to publish material that encourages parents to develop their skills in the online world, to mark European Safer Internet Day today.

In Scotland, while 49 per cent said they had installed parental controls – which filter and block certain types of software – on computers and laptops their children used in the house, only 24 per cent had done the same on mobile phones used at home, according to the research carried out by Westcoastcloud.

When asked whether they had activated parental controls on games consoles such as the Xbox or PlayStation, only 27 per cent said they had, while only 24 per cent had activated parental controls on their Sky TV or Freeview boxes. Almost one in ten had not installed any internet protection software at all.

Almost 60 per cent said they were worried about the explicit sexual content their children could find, while half said they were concerned about online grooming by paedophiles. Almost three-quarters of parents in Glasgow were most worried about explicit sexual content online – more than in any other Scottish city.

A further 47 per cent said they were worried about online bullying and 45 per cent were concerned about graphic violence online, while almost one in four said they were also concerned about the moderate nudity and sexual content in music videos and on showbiz websites.

“Whilst it’s encouraging that 50 per cent of parents in Scotland are being more vigilant about the risks their children face when going online on a computer or laptop, many of them are still failing to recognise that in our increasingly mobile world, the same level of protection needs to be provided when their children are accessing the internet via their mobile phones, the television and while they’re gaming,” said Bill Strain, director of Westcoastcloud.

A quarter of parents confessed that their online knowledge was poor or that they left the issue of internet safety to their children because they knew more about technology than they did.

Mr Strain added: “There are many things parents can do to keep their children safe on the internet. The first and most important thing you can do is talk to your children to make them aware that the internet can expose them to all sorts of wonderful things but also all sorts of unsuitable things and get them to understand the risks.

“Second, you can agree certain rules with them and third, you can install web security software, which will filter and block inappropriate content or websites.”

David Wright, of the UK Safer Internet Centre, added: “While the internet is such an amazing resource, just like life, it carries risk – not least for children with cyberbullying and adult content.”