Survey finds a quarter of six year olds have a smartphone

A recent survey commissioned by CyberSafeKids to coincide with Safer Internet Day, has shockingly revealed that a quarter of six year olds have a smartphone. The 23-page report published by CyberSafeKids on Tuesday, which focusses on topics such as cyberbullying, combatting online grooming, sexting and pornography and gaming, endeavours to offer greater clarity into the habits and trends emerging in online youth culture and warn parents of their significant impacts on children.

The survey of 900 parents of children aged five to 17 with smartphone access finds more than a quarter of parents are “extremely concerned” about the risk of online grooming, cyberbullying and the risk of accessing pornography as well as social media addiction and content relating to self-harm.

Almost a quarter (24%) of six year olds have their own smartphone and 45% of 10 year olds are allowed use their smartphones in their bedrooms. Just 28% of parents use parental controls and only 20% of parents felt the good the internet could bring their children outweighed the risks.

One-fifth (21%) of parents said their child had been purposely excluded from a group chat or online event and 18% said their child had been called offensive names. Supervision of internet access is lower during weekends and holiday times. Some 80% of parents of children aged 11 with smartphones said their child’s internet access is only sometimes or never supervised.