Experts are using Safer Internet Day to highlight the vital importance of child safety online after some kids were exposed to sexual images in a messaging group.
The joint messaging from Ireland's online safety charity Cyber Safe Kids and the National Parents’ Council carries statistics to show children’s relationship with the web.
A spokesperson for their Same Rules Apply campaign said: “Some 50% of children surveyed said they ‘spend too much time online’.
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“And 30% of children said they can ‘go online whenever they want’.
“Some 22% had seen something online in the last year that they ‘wouldn't want their parents to know about’.
“These findings are from a Cyber Safe Kids survey of 1,600 children, aged 8 to 12, from last September to last month.
“The Same Rules Apply campaign is an online safety parental awareness initiative to highlight a need to approach parenting children online in the same way that we approach parenting them offline.”
School principal Dr Barry O'Leary of St Kevin's National School in Dublin revealed that a concerning case involving a Snapchat group emerged in one of its senior classes.
Dr O'Leary said: “A disagreement had broken out in the group chat and one child added an older [friend] into the group, in theory, to defend him.
“However, this older child subsequently sent inappropriate messages to the group, including some sexual images.
“Many of the younger children found these really disturbing.”
The matter was resolved when some children spoke to their parents.
Dr O'Leary added: “But the concern remains about the kind of content children are being exposed to online.”
Cyber Safe Kids, which was set up in 2015, and the National Parents Council, which was set up in 1985, together created a video to highlight the difference between offline and online worlds.
The spokesperson said: “Giving your child unsupervised access to the online world means you’re also giving the online world unsupervised access to your child.
“Remember, online or offline, Same Rules Apply."
Other statistics recorded by a survey for the Same Rules Apply campaign include 25% of children stating that they were ‘not allowed online before bedtime’ and 3% of children stating they are ‘never allowed to go online’.
Some 43% said they were 'not allowed to chat or game with strangers', while 56% said they were not allowed to add 'friends I don't know'.
Some 29% said they were 'allowed online at certain times', while 50% said they ‘spend too much time online', and 42% said that they don't spend too much time online.
Cyber Safe Kids chief Alex Cooney: said: "We wanted the Same Rules Apply campaign to give parents and carers of children some pause for thought with regards to how we parent our children’s digital lives.
“Our main concern is around unsupervised access in places like bedrooms, with doors shut; this can leave them vulnerable to stumbling across highly inappropriate content or being contacted by strangers in a place that should be safe and protected.”
National Parents Council chief Aine Lynch added: “The Same Rules Apply campaign hopes to make parents stop and think about how they parent their children in the digital world.
“Parenting in this digital age can feel overwhelming and sometimes scary.”
Child psychotherapist Dr Colman Noctor said: "We need to pay more attention to our children’s online world and teach them how to navigate the online world safely.”
More information is available from the cybersafekids.ie/samerulesapply website.
Meanwhile, Switcher.ie has issued tips to parents for Safer Internet Day to keep your children safe online.
These include parents talking to kids about internet safety as soon as they're old enough to go online; encourage children to raise concerns; teach them simple DOs and DON’Ts; and pay attention to your children's behaviour in response to device time and set boundaries with parental control.
Parents are also advised to be social media savvy, install antivirus software on family devices; set a great example, and seek support about online dangers,
Switcher.ie’s broadband expert Eoin Clarke said: “The ways children interact with technology is developing all the time and the internet now plays a significant role in children's lives at home and in school.”
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