Social Media Parenting? There’s An Infographic For That

We all know that generation Y and Z knows more about tech gadgets, apps and the web than their parents do.

Today, 16% of 8 – 11 year olds own at least five media devices. With the digital world constantly advancing, there is no way to keep them off the web, even if you want to.

In five years the things that you worry about talking to your kids with will be totally obsolete.

Too often, though, misinformed parents try to shut their children out of it completely, only to discover they are logging into social networks anyway.

But by not knowing how your children navigate the web, you won’t be able to protect them from inappropriate content, hurtful comments or strangers.

So, how do you grant children and teens the freedom to explore social media and smart devices whilst looking after their safety?

Help is at hand, courtesy of this infographic from Ebuyer, which takes a closer look at some key figures about today’s digital natives and the concerns you’re having.

Some surprising statistics include:

• More than a quarter of all children aged 5 -15 use mobile phones to access the internet.

• The average teenager has 272 friends across their social media profiles, 78 of whom they’ve never even met

• Almost half of households with a 3 – 15 year old have a tablet computer compared to 7% in 2011

• On average 3 – 4 year olds spend 6.5 hours on the internet per week.

• Almost one out of five 5 – 7 year olds have uploaded photos to a website.

• Texting is the most popular activity for 8 – 11 years old.

• 83 percent of the parents trust their children to use the internet safely and 70 percent of the parents believe that the benefits of the internet for their child outweigh any risks.

• Approximately half of the parents believe their children know more about the internet than they do.

• 40 percent of parents of 12 – 15s have installed parental controls on mobile phones.

One essential step, especially when it comes to younger children, is to learn all about the sites they’re using. Guide them through social network privacy settings and set some boundaries where necessary.

The challenges for you are far more nuanced and solving them takes work. With a little research, perhaps the technology gap between you and your children doesn’t have to be so big.

Have a look at the infographic below to see the rest of the stats we haven’t specified.