Children’s online behaviour checked less frequently – survey

Parents are checking their children’s online behaviour less frequently, a new survey suggests, with almost a third of respondents saying they monitored internet use at home rarely or never.

The survey, conducted by Amárach Research for the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD), found only 46 per cent of parents checked their child’s online behaviour weekly or more, compared with 54 per cent in 2014. Some 30 per cent of parents said they checked their child’s internet use less than once a month or never. This compared with 26 per cent in 2014.

In addition, students aged under 22 who were interviewed for the study reported having their online activity checked less frequently. Only 5 per cent said their activity was checked either weekly or more often, compared with 11 per cent in 2013.

The questions on cyberbullying were asked as part of Amárach’s February omnibus survey, using a nationally representative sample of more than 1,000 adults. Only 261 parents and 124 students answered the questions on cyberbullying.

Online threats

Because of the small sample sizes, the researchers said the results should be read with caution, although they pointed to a less-vigilant attitude among parents towards monitoring online threats.

NAPD director Clive Byrne said: "While the drop in the number of parents who check their child's online activity frequently may suggest parents believe cyberbullying isn't as much a problem as it used to be, the statistics tell another story. One in six children say they have been cyberbullied, and we urge parents to remain vigilant as the problem has most certainly not gone away."

Survey findings include:

- 73 per cent of parents believe their child is most likely to be bullied on Facebook, followed by Snapchat (37 per cent) and Twitter (32 per cent).

- Only 3 per cent of adults believe their children use Ask.fm, 32 per cent believe their child is likely to experience bullying on the site.

- 63 per cent of adults believe schools should ban the use of social media.

- Mothers are more likely to check their child’s activity on a regular basis (52 per cent versus 39 per cent among fathers).

- 10 per cent of parents said their child had been cyberbullied, down from 18 per cent in 2013.

- Some 4 per cent said their child had cyberbullied, down from 12 per cent in 2013.

Active eye

Expressing support for the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children anti-bullying Shield My School initiative, Mr Byrne pointed to a gap between the number of parents who say their child has been cyberbullied and those who say their child carried out bullying.

“While this could mean that a small number of children are cyberbullying multiple children, it may also mean that parents are not aware their child is cyberbullying or they are giving their child the benefit of the doubt,” Mr Byrne said.

“Parents need to keep an active eye on online activity to ensure not only that their child is not a victim but that they are not a perpetrator of the bullying,” he added.