Hooked on the net
Ronnie’s 70th birthday treat ...cuddling his 2 biggest fans Irish children spend 5½ hours per day online, far exceeding WHO guidelines
IRISH children spend an average of five and a half hours online – more than double the recommended limit – a figure described as ‘startling’ yesterday.
Research of more than 1,000 households reveals that children are spending five and a half hours, almost half their day, on iPads and other online devices, with YouTube being the most popular site visited by children.
The research – commissioned by iKydz, a device that allows parents to manage children’s home internet access via a smartphone app – found that YouTube was the most popular site visited by children with almost one in four youngsters online visiting the site or using the app. The main social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp and Snapchat account for almost 63% of children’s online usage during April of this year.
Around 22% of children spent time on Facebook, 14% used photo-sharing site Instagram and 10% of children used Twitter.
Of the homes surveyed, parents listed a range of key concerns in relation to their children spending time online.
Almost 18% were worried about exposure to inappropriate content. And 16% of parents were worried about their children’s access to social media, 10% were worried about them engaging with strangers and 14% about children not getting enough sleep.
A recent study, Adolescent Obesity And Related Behaviours: Trends And Inequalities In The WHO European Region 2002-2004, sites the recommended guideline of no more than two hours per day of recreational screen time. This means that Irish children are almost doubling the recommended guidelines according to the survey.
Commenting on the report, Fine Gael TD and Chair of the Oireachtas Children and Youth Affairs Committee Jim Daly said the results are ‘quite startling’ and something that must be tackled.
He added: ‘The survey results place Irish children’s screen time well above the WHO recommended daily amount of recreational screen time of two hours or less and as a society we really need to tackle this.
‘The report clearly outlines the concerns that parents have including access to inappropriate content at a very young age and as a Government we need to address those concerns by making the internet a more child friendly place to be, where possible.’
Last month Mr Daly unveiled proposals to forbid the sale of smartphones to children aged under 14.
In response to growing requests from parents, iKydz plans to launch its 3G and 4G service in the coming weeks to allow parents extend the features of the home iKydz controller to mobile phones while outside the home.
John Molloy, founder of iKydz, said: ‘The internet is a fantastic resource however it is important that there is a balance in children’s and teenagers’ lives when it comes to time spent online versus other offline activities.’
iKydz has introduced a monthly iKydz Internet Usage Index for children and teenagers.
Comment – Page 16
Fears of engaging with strangers