Dangers lurk when the digital world is their playground

For some it’s the first day of primary school. For others it’s six, seven even. Then there are those who say we are living in a digital world and you might as well start them young.

According to new research the number of the latter group is growing with children as young as two-years-old being given the green light to go online. For the most part it’s a smartphone hurriedly shoved in the back of the car to distract from a long journey or an iPad used as a diversion before dinner. In many houses, technology has replaced the dummy.

“You do see a lot of children now trying to ‘pinch’ the characters from the television because they are so used to interacting online though iPads and tablets,” says Graham Jones, internet psychologist. “Two years old does sound young, but we have to avoid knee-jerk reactions. There is research which shows at this age using the internet can be beneficial.

“If they are using sites which are specifically designed for that age range it can improve a child’s comprehension and understanding. However, like everything it’s about a balance. If you use an iPad as a babysitter, you’re really not going to improve your child’s mental agility.

“Children explore the world around them. The internet is part of our world so we really shouldn’t be surprised that they want to explore it. My own son is now 13 and he grew up with the internet, but when he was very young we went on it together.

“It wasn’t so much monitoring what he was doing, but it was a way of making sure he got the most out of his time online. It’s exactly the same with books. You can give a child a book, they will read it, they will look at the pictures, but if they read it to a parent who asks them questions and who talks about the story then they learn and remember so much more.

“I didn’t set time limits as such, but when I thought we’d spent enough time staring at the screen, we would shut it down and go outside for a walk, when he got bored of that we’d play football or go back home and bake a cake. Children like doing different things. Parents who complain their child spends too much time on the internet, often need to look at themselves.

“Yes, children like playing computer games, but given half the chance they also like walking in the woods in the spring time spotting butterflies.”

The Netmums survey questioned around 1,100 parents and more than 800 children aged seven to 16 about their internet habits. Perhaps unsurprisingly there was a disparity between what parents assumed their children were looking at and for how long and reality.

The majority of mums insisted their children spent less than an hour a day browsing the internet. However, when the youngsters were questioned they admitted it was more than double that.

Four in five also admitted they had seen images or information about eating disorders and self-harm, while 40 per cent said they had seen sites containing pornographic images.

“None of us are very good when it comes to the concept of time,” says Graham. “Ask anyone how long they spend after working looking at emails an they’ll say 15 minutes when in fact it’s probably more like an hour. So it’s no wonder that when it comes to their own children they vastly under estimate how much time they are spending online.

“The issue of content is a serious one. The internet is effectively run by computer engineers who think the rest of us are also computer engineers. Yes, in theory you can set up bars and filters, but you often need a computer science degree to get around the jargon.

“The industry does have a responsibility to make it much simpler for parents to protect their child from sites which are inappropriate.”

However, the virtual cotton wool can only stretch so far and with children now able to access the internet on their mobile phones they are often not even in the same room as their parents when they are browsing the net.

“When parents let their children play out they know what environment they are sending them out into. We live near a canal, so when my son goes out on his bike there are risks. However, I know about them and I can warn him about them and give him advice. It’s the same with the internet, except that a lot of parents have no idea how Facebook works. I wouldn’t let my son out to play with a complete stranger, yet every day thousands of parents, who turn a blind eye to the internet, allow their children to do just that.”