UAE parents worried about what their kids watch online

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online content, inappropriate online content, bullying, UAE parents, UAE, online games

Dubai - Exposure to inappropriate imagery is the main concern of parents in the UAE.

By Staff Report

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Published: Tue 3 Sep 2019, 10:18 AM

Last updated: Tue 3 Sep 2019, 8:42 PM

More than three-quarters of parents in the UAE (78 per cent) are worried about their child's exposure to inappropriate online content, new YouGov research revealed on Tuesday.
Furthermore, more than nine in ten (92 per cent) agree with the statement 'inappropriate online content can affect a child's mental health'.

The new research looks into parents' concerns over their children's digital habits and reveals steps taken by them to monitor their activities.
Exposure to inappropriate imagery is the main concern of parents in the UAE in connection to their child's digital habits, with 71 per cent) stating this as a matter of concern. This is followed by interaction with strangers (65 per cent), online bullying (62 per cent) and exposure to dangerous games (61per cent).

At present, more than nine in ten UAE parents (93 per cent) said their children use the internet. Not surprisingly, parents of older children, where the youngest was 10 or older, were much more likely to say their children use the internet "very often" (79 per cent) this compares to only 39 per cent amongst parents with children of 5 or under.

Although consumption is higher among families with children 10+, their parents are less likely to check their online history very often (30 per cent) as compared to parents of children 5 and under, of whom half (54 per cent) said they check their child's online history very often.

Exposure to inappropriate imagery is the main concern of parents in the UAE in connection to their child's digital habits, with 71 per cent) stating this as a matter of concern. This is followed by interaction with strangers (65 per cent), online bullying (62 per cent) and exposure to dangerous games (61per cent).
Most of these concerns are prominent for parents whose children are more than 5 years old, especially those with children over 10. We see a higher concern with online bullying among parents whose youngest children are aged between 6 and 10, with seven in ten (70 per cent) of these parents saying this is concerning to them.
On the other hand, interaction with strangers (75 per cent), illegal downloading (60 per cent) and risk to reputation on account of content posted by their child (43 per cent) are more worrisome to parents of older children as compared to their younger counterparts.

In order to deal with these concerns, parents take certain steps to monitor their child's online habits. More than half (53 per cent) restrict their child's internet access time and slightly lower than that (47 per cent) try gaining an insight into their child's online interests by speaking to them regularly. However, there are some parents (18 per cent) who do not take any steps in this regard.


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