It’s good to talk in the real world

The Internet Matters campaign offers parents tips on how to tackle issues from privacy, tagging and geo-location settings, to strangerdanger, cyberbullying and sexting, to give them more confidence in keeping up with what their children are doing online, dealing with the rapid pace of change in the digital playground, and the knowledge to discuss risks.

Over half of children said they were ‘sometimes’or‘always’ feeling under pressure from friends to be on social media, while 58 per cent said that they had blocked or unfriended someone because they were unkind.

Over half of children (54 per cent) thought they spent too long on social media and 62 per cent said their parents thought the same.

Facebook was by far the most popular network among those surveyed – with 83 per cent of 11 to 16-year-olds having a profile compared to just 39 per cent on Twitter.

Meanwhile, 62 per cent of 11-year-olds and 69 per cent of 12-year-olds said they had a Facebook profile, despite an age minimum of 13.

YouTube has become the second most popular social media tool for children.

More than half of children said that they had a profile (51 per cent).

Carolyn Bunting, General Manager of Internet Matters, said: “We know parents find it hard to talk to their children about digital safety and often bury their heads in the sand, especially when it comes to social media.

“We are giving parents the skills they need to understand the risks children may need to deal with. We hope that these resources will provide practical support to minimise the risks and give advice on whatever your child is doing on the internet.

“Most importantly we want to hammer home the importance of talking to your children in the offline world so you can keep them safe in the online world.”