The internet and technology have become so important for business, travel and many other everyday tasks that they practically surround us all the time. This is true for the younger generation as well, including even the smallest children, but online surveys by ESET show that a majority of parents in Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States are not at all happy about this.
The polls show that an overwhelming 96.6% of Russian respondents agree (26%) or strongly agree (70.6%) with the claim that “children today are using technology and the internet at too young an age”. Only 3.4% say they think the opposite is true.
On the other hand, Germans seem to be more enthusiastic about the role modern technologies play in the lives of their children, with less than two thirds agreeing (31.8%) or agreeing strongly (33.5%) with the same statement.
Americans are slightly more conservative. More than two in three (67.8%) Americans thought that the internet and various technologies were present too early in the lives of kids today, with the rest being more positive about these influences.
With 40.5% agreeing and 23.9% strongly agreeing with the statement, British parents are marginally less reserved when it comes to the role of modern devices and online resources in the lives of younger generations.
Interestingly, Brits appear to be the strongest adopters of parental control tools among the four surveyed countries. As many as 73% of them stated that they use such a solution to monitor their children, leaving about one–quarter with no protection.
This contrasts with the situation in Germany, where ESET’s survey reveals that 56% opt for non-technological means to keep an eye on their offspring. This means that only 44% of German parents currently use technology to monitor what their kids are up to in the virtual world.
In the same online survey, 38% of parents in the United States said they don’t use any monitoring solutions, followed by Russia on 44%.
The Internet surveys used to gather these statistics were carried out in January 2016. A thousand respondents participated in each national survey, which targeted British, American, German and Russian participants. UK, US and German data were provided by Google Consumer Surveys, and the Russian data by Merku.
Consider this statement: Children today are using technology and the Internet at too young an age.
|
|
Strongly Agree |
Agree |
Disagree |
Strongly Disagree |
|
UK |
23,9% |
40,5% |
31,7% |
3,9% |
|
DE |
33,5% |
31,8% |
26,3% |
8,4% |
|
USA |
27,3% |
40,5% |
27,0% |
5,2% |
|
RUS |
70,6% |
26,0% |
1,6% |
1,9% |
Do you use a Parental Control application to supervise your child’s online activities?
|
Do you use a Parental Control application to supervise your child’s online activities? |
Yes |
No |
|
UK |
72,8% |
27,2% |
|
DE |
43,8% |
56,2% |
|
USA |
61,7% |
38,3% |
|
RUS |
55,6% |
44,4% |
What children can access on the internet is clearly a concern. While many people think that children are ‘going digital’ too early in life there’s a great deal that can be done to ensure their safety. Beyond talking to children and manually monitoring their use of the internet there are technological means to help them stay safe. Products like ESET Smart Security Premium can be used to limit what young children can access on the internet while letting them enjoy its beneficial aspects.