New research reveals almost half of parents and carers feel their children know more than them when it comes to digital technology, with 60% claiming they wish they were more digitally savvy. The study, conducted by Vodafone, reveals a digital knowledge gap between the generations, citing 12 as the age at which parents feel their child’s digital knowledge overtakes their own.
Only one in ten parents are familiar with trending social media platform BeReal and just 35% are familiar with Twitch, despite the soaring popularity of the gaming platform. What’s more, 71% of parents claim their children use technological terms they don’t understand – with digital slang such as ‘GRWM’ (get ready with me) and with OOMF (one of my friends) among the phrases 66% of parents are unfamiliar with. Similarly, ‘smishing’, ‘NFT’ and ‘Digital Activism’ are among the online terms parents wouldn’t be able to explain to their children.
The findings are released in line with the launch of Vodafone’s interactive Digital Parenting Pro, one of the biggest parental controls and safety settings resources in the UK.
