A UK study carried out by online identity company Garlik has this week uncovered that children finding new ‘friends’ via the supposed safety of the Internet are regularly venturing out into the real world in order to physically meet up with the person typing on the other side of the virtual world. And, worryingly, most of those young Net users do so without their parents having any inclination as to the actions of their children.
This latest round of Garlik research, which was conducted across 500 parents, revealed that a mere 7 percent of those surveyed actively knew that their children were contacting people via the Internet before then leaving the home in order to meet up with them. The research also discovered that some 20 percent of 500 children (aged between 8-15) poled with regard to their Internet usage admitted to having actually met someone face to face that they’d initially found online.
Beyond the apparent Internet-based ignorance of certain parents, as well as the potentially dangerous and certainly deceitful actions of their children, the study showed that two out of five children often frequented parentally prohibited Web sites, while many claimed to be divulging personal details with the prior consent of their parents.
While most of the Net research gathered by Garlik pointed to children innocently chatting online with known friends, researching school homework, or playing computer games, a small amount of those polled did admit to meeting with strangers first met via through the computer.
“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,” commented Tom Ilube, CEO of Garlik, in a GMTV article. “[This] 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.”
Following its research, Garlik has recommended that parents learn to understand the possible threat posed to their children by the complete anonymity of the online world and the advantages it provides for potential predators. Better monitoring of Internet habits is therefore a must, as is keeping access to the home computer limited to a communal location rather than allowing a child to have unrestricted and unwatched online access in their bedroom.
Furthermore, parents would be well advised to consider implementing Internet filters for the sake of extra peace of mind, with many filters banning the use of certain words when online while also restricted access to certain online environments. However, it is worth noting that filters, while effective, generally do not apply to e-mails, newsgroups, or chatrooms, the latter of which is a huge online draw for children.
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