When it comes to kids under the age of seven?
- 41% of parents allow them to use a gaming console unsupervised.
- 40% allow unsupervised access to a computer.
- 29% of parents allow their kids under age 7 to use a mobile apps unsupervised.
The poll also asked about teaching online safety to kids. Eighty-nine percent of people without kids and 74% of parents “agree that parents should provide online safety guidance.”
Thanks to the the survey uncovered by Microsoft that computers and gaming consoles are introduced at 8 on average, whereas email, texting, and social networking are allowed later on (between ages 11 and 12). By the teen years (13), parents surveyed allow kids to use devices and online services without supervision. (Parents who did not allow usage of mobile devices and online services when they took the survey planned to do so later, when their kids are 15 to 18 years old.)
Are you flipping kidding me? If an eight-year-old child is online, unsupervised, without safety guidance, then that seems like a recipe for disaster. And kids installing mobile apps without supervision…does that mean they know all about checking out the permissions that apps ask for and what is and is not acceptable?
When the father of the 14-year-old girl was asked about his daughter’s malicious harassing and cyberbullying, he told The Associated Press, “None of it’s true. My daughter’s a good girl and I’m 100% sure that whatever they’re saying about my daughter is not true.” Oh really? Maybe the dad should check out his daughter’s bragging on Facebook. “‘Yes, I bullied Rebecca and she killed herself but I don’t give a …’ and you can add the last word yourself,” quoted the sheriff from the girl’s Facebook post. Does unsupervised device and social network usage, with or without online safety guidance, still seem wise? People without kids responded an average of two to three years later as acceptable for allowing device usage, meaning parents are less strict and “may be cooler than kids think.”
Take the Survey here: https://survey2.securestudies.com/wix/p222707061.aspx
Source: http://www.microsoft.com/security/resources/conversations.aspx
Entire Survey Report download here (PPT) : How_Old_Is_Too_Young_2013_Research_Results
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