40% of kids regularly visit forbidden sites

Online identity firm Garlik commissioned research among 500 children aged 8–15 and 500 parents across the UK. Its findings suggest that 40% of children regularly visit websites that are prohibited by their parents. Many divulge personal details without parental consent, including full name (30%), home address (12%), mobile number (20%), home telephone number (10%), school details (46%) and family photos (9%).

One in five children in Britain has met up with someone first encountered online and five percent do so on a regular basis. Only seven percent of parents are aware that their children are doing this.

Eleven percent of children have been bullied online – with victims intimidated by email or on chat-rooms – yet only half have spoken to their parents about their ordeals.

Despite 90% of parents monitoring their offspring’s internet activities, more than half of the 8–15 year-olds questioned admitted to surfing the internet when their parents didn’t know, often late at night.

Garlik CEO Tom Ilube said: “Our research is a shocking wake-up call to all parents in the UK to sit down with their children and talk about how to keep safe online. The web is a wonderful place to explore but young people continue to make themselves vulnerable by not applying the same caution online as they would in person.”

Garlik’s top tips for parents

1. Keep internet-connected computers in a central and open location, particularly for younger children.  
2. Sit down and talk to your children about their online activity. You should know everyone on your children's contact list. 
3. For younger kids, make sure you know all their passwords. Don’t intrude, but let them know that you know, just in case.
4. Tell your children not to provide personal details online. No full names, addresses or telephone numbers.
5. Devise a code of conduct – list of internet rules – that you and your children agree to sign up to.