James Cox
Research commissioned by eir shows that children in Ireland are accessing their first mobile phones at the average age of nine, more than three years earlier than parents’ preferred age of between 12 and 13 years.
The study, which surveyed 522 parents across the country, also found that 42 per cent of parents provide their children with a phone earlier than they would like, largely due to safety concerns. Despite this, over a third of parents reported being unsure of how to access the built-in parental controls to help monitor and manage their children’s online activity.
While 71 per cent of parents believe their child can self-manage online activity and 80 per cent think their child would share negative experiences, findings from CyberSafeKids Left To Their Own Devices report, suggest a more complex reality.
According to their report 77 per cent of 8–12-year-olds say their parents cannot see what they are doing online, and 55 per cent did not tell a parent when they encountered harmful content.
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