Survey finds 24% of all Irish six-year olds have a smartphone

With the latest parenting survey revealing the shocking statistic that almost a quarter of all six-year olds now have their own smartphone, an online safety parental awareness campaign has been launched by CybersafeKids.

The 'Same Rules Apply' campaign has been launched against the backdrop of over half of all Irish parents admitting that they do not feel confident about teaching their children to stay safe online, according to research carried out by Amárach on behalf of CyberSafeKids, which is Ireland's online safety charity.

Amárach surveyed 900 parents of children aged between 15-17 years, and the results of their research has been published to support the launch of the 'Same Rules Apply' online safety campaign as part of Safer Internet Day.

Among the other disturbing findings in the Amárach survey is that, while 45% of children aged ten can use their smartphones in their bedrooms, only 28% of parents use parental controls, and an even smaller number of parents (20%) feel "the benefits of the internet and social media outweigh the risks for children.'"

The research reveals that more than 80% of parents believe it's their responsibility to keep their children safe online with over a quarter of parents extremely concerned about the risk of online grooming (29%), cyberbullying, (26%) and the risk of accessing pornography (25%). Accessing disturbing content relating to self-harming, (25%) and addiction to social media (16%) were also cited by parents as concerns.

Only 28% of parents are using parental controls to protect their children, with the data showing that 24% of children as young as six own a smartphone. One fifth (21%) of all parents of children aged 5-17 said their child has been purposely excluded from a group chat or online event and 18% said their child had been called offensive names.

Supervision of internet access reduces with age and is lower during weekends and holiday times. 80% of parents of children aged eleven with smartphones said their child's internet access is only "sometimes or never" supervised.

To support parents, CyberSafeKids' campaign 'Same Rules Apply' highlights the need to approach parenting children online in the same way that we approach parenting them offline - emphasising that the same parenting rules should be applied to both worlds.

CyberSafeKids is asking the Government for fundamental changes to keep children safer online, including introducing a mandatory online safety education programme in schools so that the conversation at home around risks and opportunities online is supported in schools and vice versa.