Children’s online fears focus of Safer Internet Day

TWO-THIRDS OF parents have discussed internet safety with their children, new research shows.

However less than a fifth have discussed how to report cyberbullying and online sexual abuse.

The UK Safer Internet Centre found that 68% of parents of children aged 11-15 had discussed at least one internet safety issue.

But only 19% of those polled ahead of today’s 11th annual global Safer Internet Day (Sid) said they had discussed with children how to report problems encountered online.

The event comes after high-profile cases of Twitter abuse and Prime Minister David Cameron has thrown the Government’s support behind Sid.

Culture Secretary Maria Miller is due to speak at an event at Microsoft’s UK headquarters in London today, alongside 2012 Olympics medal-winning gymnast Beth Tweddle.

A separate poll of 2,000 children carried out for the BBC shows almost one in five children (19%) who use tablets or smartphones have been upset by something they have seen on them in the last year — double the number parents thought had been upset.

Half of those children, who were aged eight to 16, were worried by sexual content or “rude things”.

There is huge backing for the Sid event, ranging from community groups and schools to organisations including the BBC, Tesco, Microsoft, Disney Club Penguin, Facebook, Google and the NSPCC.

PA. MP Maria Miller.