{"id":30159,"date":"2013-07-16T18:51:51","date_gmt":"2013-07-16T08:51:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/power-up.space\/?p=30159"},"modified":"2013-07-16T18:51:51","modified_gmt":"2013-07-16T08:51:51","slug":"online-safety-assessments-welcomed-by-86-percent-of-uk-parents-to-sharpen-their-it-knowledge-reveals-avg-technologies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.impulsegamer.com\/wordpress\/?p=30159","title":{"rendered":"Online safety assessments welcomed by 86 percent of UK parents to sharpen their IT knowledge, reveals AVG Technologies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melbourne, 16 July 2013<\/strong> \u2013 AVG Technologies<\/a> has launched the findings of its UK research report with Plymouth University entitled \u201cParents, Schools and the Digital Divide<\/a>\u201d. As parents struggle to keep pace with technology, 86 percent agree an online safety assessment would identify knowledge gaps and enable parents to better educate children about staying safe online.<\/p>\n

The findings of the report with 2,000 UK parents reinforces the importance placed on online safety with more than half (52 percent) of all parents making school selection decisions based in part on a school\u2019s ability to teach online safety. Of that number, more than one in ten (13 percent) said online safety credentials would be \u201cthe\u201d <\/em>deciding factor if selecting a new school now.<\/p>\n

Tony Anscombe, AVG\u2019s senior security evangelist, comments: \u201cDespite their confidence, our research shows that parents clearly need help to stay ahead of how children are using the Internet. We\u2019re calling on the government and forward-thinking schools to support our recommendation and develop an easy to use assessment for parents, effectively extending e-safety training to parents. Just as parents agree to an Internet usage policy with a child\u2019s school, parents should be tasked with truly understanding what they\u2019re signing up to and how their children are actually using the internet, both at home and in the school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Online safety education \u2013 whose responsibility is it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Reinforcing the importance placed on e-safety, an overwhelming number of parents (95 percent) agree with online safety education being mandatory in schools and nearly nine out of ten (89 percent) agree that the government needs to do more when it comes to teaching children right from wrong when it comes to safe use of the Internet<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Despite this, nearly two-thirds (66 percent) of parents are adamant that the ultimate responsibility for online safety education falls to them<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And while 92 percent of all parents are confident about their own ability to teach online safety, AVG\u2019s study exposes a widening gap between \u2018perceived\u2019\u00a0 and \u2018actual\u2019 knowledge, reinforcing the value of a simple assessment for parents to help bridge this gap<\/p>\n

Perception versus reality<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 More than half (56 percent) of parents with children in primary and secondary school, and 42 percent of parents with teenagers, have not had a discussion with children about sexual online adult content despite evidence<\/a> that the majority of 14 year old boys and many teenagers have accessed this content<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One in ten parents of teenagers who haven\u2019t discussed sexual adult content online believe their child is \u201ctoo young\u201d for the conversation, whilst nearly a quarter (23 percent) simply \u201chaven\u2019t got around to it\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When it comes to other online threats, nine out of ten (89 percent) of all parents with children in primary and secondary school believe their child has not been involved in cyberbullying or sexting (as either the perpetrator or victim)<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For teenagers specifically, 86 percent of parents are not aware of their teenager having experienced this issue, despite evidence highlighting these as the most frequent Internet issues for children<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This evidence suggests parents\u2019 staggering confidence in their own IT knowledge is misplaced, with many still in the dark when it comes to how to educate their children on staying safe online<\/p>\n

Anscombe comments further: \u201cWe know parents take responsibility of online safety seriously; half of us base school selection on this and we\u2019re asking the government to do more to support teachers and parents. Yet we\u2019re not living up to the standards we\u2019re setting by avoiding conversations about exposure to explicit adult content, privacy or other Internet-related threats. It comes as no surprise then that nearly 90 percent of parents aren\u2019t aware of whether their child has been exposed to cyberbullying or sexting – two of the most common Internet risks facing children. We believe asking parents to sign up to a simple online safety assessment when completing a school\u2019s Internet usage policy would give parents the starting point they need to further improve their own IT knowledge.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith a good understanding of the threats facing children, parents can make informed decisions about the right safety technologies and settings to put in place. Complementing this with age-appropriate guidance and safety rules will ensure children can use the Internet safely and freely,\u201d concluded Anscombe.
\nAndy Phippen, professor of social responsibility at Plymouth University comments: \u201cSafe Internet use should be top of mind for all parents; sexting, cyberbullying, exposure to explicit content and other Internet-related issues are only on the increase. To protect our children from these dangers both parents and schools need to continually work to stay ahead of how children use the Internet and of the relevant guidance we need to provide. An online safety assessment could give parents an indication of their strengths and weaknesses and working in partnership with the school, they could identify areas they need to brush up on, accessing helpful advice and learning materials.\u201d<\/p>\n

About the research<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

The quantitative research with a sample size of 2,014 parents was commissioned by AVG Technologies and conducted by research agency Vision Critical. Parents with children aged from 2-18 were asked to complete an online survey with the sample randomly selected from the online community Springboard UK, which is a community of 70,000 British adults who participate in online surveys and discussions. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.<\/p>\n

To ensure accurate representation of parents with children across different ages, an even number of parents with children in the following age ranges were asked to fill in the survey: 2-3 years old, 4-7 years old, 8-11 years old, 12-14 years old, 15-18\u00a0years old. In cases where parents had more than one child, parents were asked to provide the age of their oldest child and to fill in the survey with this child in mind.\u00a0 To complement the quantitative research findings, Andy Phippen, professor of social responsibility at Plymouth University, conducted ten in-depth interviews from the 28th<\/sup> June \u2013 3rd<\/sup> July 2013. The interviews were held via telephone with parents of children within all of the different age ranges represented in the interviews.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melbourne, 16 July 2013 \u2013 AVG Technologies has launched the findings of its UK research report with Plymouth University entitled \u201cParents, Schools and the Digital Divide\u201d. As parents struggle to keep pace with technology, 86 percent agree an online safety assessment would identify knowledge gaps and enable parents to better educate children about staying safe<\/p>\n

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