Madrid (EFE).- 63% of Spanish children surf the Internet independently for academic or recreational reasons from the age of ten and 57% spend between one and three hours connected to the computer a day.
A study carried out by the company Avast (an antivirus software company) states, on a sample of 1,000 parents, that families talk to their children when they are about nine years old about cybersecurity, dangers and network tools and teach them how use it safely.
“It can be predicted that the level of knowledge of the little ones regarding their ‘online’ safety is not the most optimal,” the company points out in a press release, in which it highlights that only 66% of Spanish parents He is confident about his level of knowledge about digital security to keep his children protected.
main threats
In addition, 42% of those surveyed believe that the school is not doing enough to educate and protect children from online threats, including making friends with scammers or manipulators (36% of concern); exposure to inappropriate content (35%); cyberbullying (34%) or addiction to the Internet and social networks (30%).
Despite the concern shown by those surveyed, 46% of them have acknowledged having published photos of their children on their social networks (most on Instagram and Facebook), with an average of 25.29 images per parent, although 88 % limits who can see the content.
“Publishing your children’s personally identifiable information on the networks can open a Pandora’s box of digital and physical threats,” declares Avast cybersecurity expert Luis Corrons, who urges “avoid sharing personal data of the little ones” on the Internet.
Safety measures
To preserve the integrity, privacy and security of children online, the company recommends a series of measures such as talking to children about the settings of applications and platforms and keeping them private.
It also advises teaching children to detect emails, text messages or websites that are suspicious of ‘phishing’ (techniques for scamming online), and establishing, together with the children, various security passwords.
