One in three children talk or play with strangers online with a fifth able to bypass parental controls
A new study has found that a third of children talk or play with strangers online, while roughly a fifth are able to bypass the parental controls put in place to keep them safe. The findings raise fresh concerns about how effectively families can shield children from unwanted contact and harmful content on the internet, despite widespread use of monitoring and restriction tools.
The research highlights a gap between the safeguards parents believe are working and children's actual online behaviour, with many youngsters interacting with unknown adults or other users through games and social platforms. Experts and child safety campaigners point to the figures as evidence that technical controls alone are not sufficient, and that ongoing conversation and supervision remain essential to protecting children from online risks such as grooming and inappropriate content.
- A third of children interact with strangers online, study finds
- About one in five children can bypass parental controls
- Raises concerns over the limits of online child-safety tools
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Third of children talk to strangers online, fifth bypass parental controls, new study finds
Children growing up today are online from an early age, often using smartphones, tablets and gaming consoles that connect them to other people over the internet. Parents can install parental control software or use built-in settings to try to limit who their children can contact, what content they can see, and how long they spend online. These tools are widely marketed as a way to keep children safe from strangers and unsuitable material while they play games, use social media or chat with others.
Concerns about children's safety online have grown alongside the rise of social media, online gaming and messaging apps, many of which allow contact with people outside a child's existing circle of family and friends. Grooming, where an adult builds a relationship with a child online in order to exploit them, is one of the risks that child safety campaigners and researchers have long warned about, alongside exposure to inappropriate content. Government bodies, charities and technology companies have all previously pushed parental controls as a key line of defence against these risks.