Half of Dutch parents are concerned about their child’s privacy on social media, partly due to a lack of insight. That is why many parents prefer not to have their children on social media or even forbid it.
Commissioned by VPNdiensten.nl, Panelwizard conducted a survey among 1,085 Dutch parents with children up to the age of 17 to find out whether they are concerned about their child’s privacy on social media. 53 percent of parents indicate that they have these concerns. An important reason for this, according to a third of the parents, appears to be the lack of insight into the online activities of the child.
Research has shown that worry increases and control decreases as the child gets older. Two-thirds of parents with children between the ages of 13 and 18 indicate that they are concerned about privacy protection on social platforms. Yet more than half of these parents do not know what their children are doing online. For parents with children up to the age of 13, ‘only’ 25 percent don’t know what their children are up to and possibly that is why the concerns in that group of parents are less with regard to privacy issues. This concerned group includes 48 percent of all parents, which is significantly lower than parents with older children.
Ban
Due to privacy concerns and lack of online activity, half of parents would rather not have their child on social media. This is 57 percent for fathers and 46 percent for mothers. A quarter of these parents forbid their children to use social media.
Not suitable
According to the survey, two-thirds of parents believe that social media does not protect children’s privacy enough. The Consumers’ Association is also concerned about this and research has concluded that social media is unsuitable for children. According to the Consumers’ Association, the platforms do not take sufficient account of the vulnerability of children, violate privacy and have too few child-friendly settings.
57 percent of parents make agreements with their children about social media about what they can and cannot post and view.
“If children even comply with parental consent at all, that does not mean that the parents know what their child is posting online and who can see it. Most children are not aware of the online risks, so I can imagine parents are concerned about this.”, says Anna Braun of VPNservices.
