Many parents
\nstill don’t know what their children are doing and how much time they spend
\nonline. This empirical observation, based on the experience of the majority of
\nadults, has recently been clearly confirmed by a sociological study conducted
\nby the Save the Children Romania Association. Focusing on the adults’ perception of children’s
\nuse of the Internet, the study was compared to a similar survey carried out in
\n2023, this time focusing on children’s perceptions. The conclusion is as
\nfollows: unfortunately, children and parents are worlds apart, in terms of the
\nperception of both the risk and the time spent online, says sociologist
\nCiprian Gr\u0103dinaru.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We can see that
\n3 in 10 parents say their kid spends an hour online on average. It’s surprising,
\nbecause only 2 or 3% of children say they spend under an hour online every day.
\nWe can notice the first difference here, because nearly 3 in 10 children say
\nthey spend over four hours on the Internet for extracurricular activities. We
\ndidn’t enquire about their school assignments, because we are still in a
\npost-pandemic context, where learning behaviors have most likely remained
\nanchored online. The main things parents say their children are doing online are
\nplay video games and watch video content and all that entails. I will only
\nfocus on one aspect – social media, where 30% of parents say their children
\nhave an account. If we look at parents with children over 10 years, the
\npercentage then increases to 40%. But if we bring into the discussion the
\nopinions of children who participated in the February 2023 survey, we will
\nnotice that 90% of children said they have an account on a social network.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The difference
\nbetween what parents believe their children are doing online and what they
\nactually do becomes critical in the context of online bullying and other
\nincidents. Ciprian Gr\u0103dinaru gave us
\nmore details. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
With respect to
\nonline incidents, I will refer to two elements: 9% of parents say that their
\nkid experienced such an incident recently. There are two aspects worth exploring
\nhere. Some 11 years ago, in 2013, the percentage was virtually identical for another
\nsample of interviewed parents: 9%. Since 2013, social media have been gaining
\nincreased traction. There are even more networks today, many of which pose a
\nhigh degree of risk. The devices children use to log in have also multiplied,
\nand the volume of time spent online has gone up. We know that in the last 10
\nyears the age of children who spend time online has dropped by approximately 4
\nyears. Still, the number of incidents and the fact that they remain virtually
\nunknown have endured. It’s a topic worth researching, because some 40% of interviewed
\nchildren say they experienced such an incident, but only 20% say they talked to
\nsomeone about it. That someone can be a friend, not necessarily a parent.
\nTherefore, we estimate that one in four online incidents remain unreported, not
\njust unknown to parents. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In fact, the
\nmain issue here is the communication gap across generations, which makes
\nparents ignore their children’s concerns, and children hide them from adults.
\nStill, adults have shown availability to reach out, sociologist Ciprian Gr\u0103dinaru
\nexplains.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
10 years ago,
\nin 2013, parents had tighter control of their children’s online behavior. A
\nlarger percentage of parents said they were doing online activities jointly
\nwith their children, for instance playing video games together. The figures
\nwent down by at least 10-20% in the last 10 years. On a brighter note, the use
\nof parent control programs has gone up. New programs have also been developed.
\nWhereas 10 years ago two in ten parents said they had installed such software
\non their children’s devices, today that percentage has doubled. The question
\nremains how efficient are they really and what about those who don’t use these
\napps?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Deficient
\ndialogue and mutual understanding often create dramatic situations for children
\nwho are harassed online, some of them ending up in therapy. Bianca Joi\u021b\u0103 recounts her personal experience.
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
I was in the 8th
\ngrade. I recall being very nervous due to the final tests, and my parents were
\nalso stressed out. The first time I heard about the pandemic and the two-week
\nbreak I was very happy at the thought I would stay home and have time to study.
\nWe very well know, however, that the two weeks became whole months, during
\nwhich time I was with my parents at home, and I could have got closer to them,
\ntalked to them and known them better. But being so stressed out about school
\nand so disorganized, my reaction to this emotional surge was to drift further
\naway from them. So, I spent a lot of time online and ended up a victim of bullying.
\n I started talking to people my age, who hurt
\nmy feelings, started making jokes about me and the way I looked. And since I
\nhad distanced myself from my parents and had sought comfort in using my phone
\nand the Internet, it was hard for me to tell them what I was going through. It
\nwas a battle I had to fight on my own, and a great learning experience. I’m now
\nenrolled in a teachers’ high-school, and I know how important it is for
\nchildren to talk to their parents, I value family relations and I know the
\nmistakes I made and what I could have done to avoid this terrible affair. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
To conclude,
\napart from tighter control of children’s online activity and limiting screen
\ntime, another way of steering clear of online threats is for parents and
\nchildren to remain in constant dialogue, Save the Children Romania experts say.
\n(VP)<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A new study reveals a communication gap between parents and children regarding the latter’s online presence<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":80607,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42997],"tags":[40712,151503,116815,35671,116814],"coauthors":[115854],"class_list":["post-623885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-today","tag-bullying","tag-ciprian-gradinaru-en","tag-online-activities","tag-save-the-children","tag-sociological-studies"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n