Norton by Symantec’s findings from a report about cyberbullying encourages parents to openly discuss cyberbullying with their children.
The Norton Cyber Security Insights Report: Family Edition puts the spotlight on parents’ perceptions of cyberbullying and the preventative measures they’re putting in place to protect their children.
One in ten parents take no action to protect kids online.
The report shows 64 percent of Australian parents allow their children to access the Internet before age 11, but many have a variety of concerns.
It found more than half (54 percent) of parents believe their children are more likely to be bullied online than on a playground. The survey also reveals that more than one in 10 (16 percent) of Australian parents fail to take any action to protect their children online.
“Children today face threats beyond physical violence or face-to-face encounters,” said Gavin Lowth, Vice President, Consumer Business Unit, Asia Pacific and Japan, Symantec.
“Cyberbullying is a growing issue and parents are struggling to identify and respond to this threat.”
“A concern for many parents is that cyberbullying doesn’t stop when their child leaves school – as long as your child is connected to a device, a bully can connect to them.”
In addition to cyberbullying, parents’ main concerns were that their children might:
- Download malicious programs or a virus (60 percent)
- Disclose too much personal information to strangers (58 percent)
- Be lured into meeting a stranger in the physical world (50 percent)
- Do something online that makes the whole family vulnerable (48 percent), embarrassed (42 percent) or haunts them in the future with job or university prospects (49 percent)
The Norton Cyber Security Insights Report: Family Edition shows that Australian parents are starting to recognise how damaging cyberbullying can be for children and are putting in place preventative measures.
- 38 percent parents chose to check their child’s browser history
- 36 percent only allow access to certain websites
- 35 percent allow Internet access only with parental supervision; 37 percent review and approve all apps before they are downloaded
- 37 percent enable Internet access only in household common areas
- 31 percent limit information they post about their children on social profiles and 26 percent set parental controls through home routers
The survey also found that parents from countries with strict preventative measures in place, also had the lowest incidence of cyberbullying.
