The internet at home... a few facts and figures

Today we thought we'd present to you some facts and figures, which we've collected from various sources on the internet, which demonstrate the way in which children and young people use the internet and the way in which parents deal with their children's internet use. 

We don't seek to be "scaremongers". 

Here, we present the facts, so that you can make up your own mind...


According to a recent report, commissioned by telephone company "Talk Talk":

• 62% of children said they lied to their parents about what they do on the internet.
  
  
• Almost half of all parents have never looked at their child’s internet history to check what sites they have been visiting.
  

According to a recent EU-wide study:

• 40% of teenagers had been exposed to pornography online
  
  
• 20% of teenagers had been bullied
  
  
• 10% of teenagers had met up with someone they had been contacting in a chat room or social networking site.

Source: The Daily Mail


According to the Mobile Life Report 2008, published by Carphone Warehouse in conjunction with the London School of Economics:

• 50% of children said that they pretend to be doing school work online whilst actually surfing the internet, and nearly one-third of children said that they would be in trouble if their parents knew what they were looking at.
  
  
• One in three children say that they have interacted with strangers online.
  
  
• 10% of young people surveyed say that they have conducted sexually explicit conversations online with people that they know, and 1% have conducted sexually explicit conversations online with strangers.
  
  
• 70% of all teens have accidentally stumbled across pornographic material online.
  
  
• 62% of parents of teenagers are unaware that their children have accessed objectionable websites.
  

Source: The Mobile Life Report 2008 (PDF)


This is just a small sample of the multitude of research published every year that details how young people use the internet, and how parents are often unaware of their children's online activity.  Do you know what your children are doing online?  Do your children lie to you about their online activity?  Perhaps not - but wouldn't you rather know?

As always, we open the floor to you, our readers. Let us know what you think by posting a comment, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook, or simply email support@spysure.com.