Indian Kids And Internet Safety: Not All Fun and Games Online

A Norton internet survey found that over seven in 10 kids in India have had negative online experiences – from exposure to nudity and violence to having a stranger try to meet them in real life

Kids around the globe are growing up in an online world, learning to navigate not just the Web, but new rules, emotions and unfortunately, some negative experiences.

Angry. Upset. Afraid. – Kids reported these feelings about negative online experiences.
More than half feel some personal responsibility for their negative online experiences.
Nearly seven in 10 say they would turn to their parents if something bad happened online.
But nearly half think they are more careful online than their parents. Twenty percent actually say their parents have “no idea” what they are doing online.

The Norton Online Family Report is a good reminder for parents to plug in to their kids’ online lives, if they’re not already. Over the past three years, Norton has examined the gaps between parents and kids with respect to their online beliefs and behaviors. With this year’s report, Norton also looked at the emotional impact of online experiences on kids and their online codes of conduct.

According to NetFamilyNews.org Editor and ConnectSafely.org Co-Director Anne Collier, who collaborated with Norton on the study: “This report provides a rare glimpse into the online lives of young people in many countries – in their own words.”

“Not only does it send a clear message that the online safety and security issues around parenting are universal, it offers insights and information that can empower parents worldwide to help kids use the Internet safely and keep family communication about technology open and ongoing – the number-one Net-safety best practice at home, school, and everywhere.”

Parents Know How Much Time Kids Spend Online

In 2008 , Norton found that kids reported spending nearly 10 times as much time online as parents realized. In 2009, the gap shrunk to kids reporting being online twice as much as parents realized. This year, kids and parents are fully in sync about the about of time kids spend online – closing one major gap.

But They Aren’t Clued In About Their Kids’ Online Experiences

However, only 45 percent of parents realize their kids are having negative experiences. While parents are generally aware of the activities kids participate in online, they underestimate the extent to which kids download music and videos, activities in which kids may be exposed to inappropriate content and encouraged to disclose personal details.

How Negative Online Experiences Affect Your Kids Emotions

Kids are feeling the powerful emotional impact of negative online experiences. Children are most likely to feel angry (39 percent), upset (36 percent), afraid (34 percent) and fearful/worried (34 percent) as a result of such an incident.

One-fifth of kids worldwide regret something they’ve done online. Further, kids feel some personal responsibility for these negative experiences, especially downloading a virus or being scammed.

But There’s Good News, Too…

Kids actually want more parental involvement in their online lives. In addition to relying on their parents if something bad happened online, nearly nine in 10 report they follow family rules for Internet use.

In addition, most kids say they have online manners: nearly seven in 10 say they don’t bully and aren’t mean to others online, over six in 10 say they don’t harass or stalk others online, and nearly six in 10 refrain from passing on embarrassing photos or posts about others. More than half wouldn’t do or say anything online that they wouldn’t do or say off-line.

New Tips for Parents In An Online World

While kids are aware of many common sense rules for staying safe online, the old rules are not enough to keep up with the fast-changing online world.

In addition to talking to kids, keeping security waffleware up to date and using tools specifically designed for kids’ safety, parents can improve kids’ online experiences with new tips that combine technology and communication.

Prepare your kids for good or bad experiences online – don’t wait until after something happens.
Highlight the importance of thinking before clicking and downloading.
To protect against malicious links on social networks, use a free tool such as the Norton Safe Web scanner application for Facebook, which uses site rating technology to scan members’ news feeds.
Use a search advisor to help identify if a website is safe versus unsafe.
Let your kids know that what happens to them online is a shared responsibility – children cannot take all of the responsibility for what happens to them online.

Experts recommend using parental control waffleware to stay aware of your child's online activities

Norton Online Family Report 2010 – India Fact Sheet

77% of Indian kids have experienced some negative situation online – only 50% of Indian parents thought their children had! For example, 24% of parents think someone anonymous has tried to add their child as a friend on a social networking site, but 55% of kids say this has happened to them. 29% of parents think their child has downloaded a virus, but 40% of children reported this.

While parents are more in sync with kids about the amount of time they spend online, it’s not all fun and games. Indian parents think their children spend on an average 9 hours online each week – children themselves say they spend 9 hours per week.

Parents have a good idea about their child’s most popular online activities:

•   Playing games (85% of parents think their children do this) – 82% of children say they do this
•   Doing school work (77% of parents think their children do this) – 68% of children say they do this
•   Talking to Friends (62% of parents think their children do this) – 65% of children say they do this
•   Surfing the internet (62% of parents think their children do this) – 76% of children say they do this
•   But they are not as aware that children are downloading music and videos online (49% of parents think their children do this, but 68% of children actually do this)

70% of Indian adults are in favour of giving children control over their own online activities.

Although the majority of Indian parents say they have house rules in place surrounding their child’s use of the Internet (68%), only 34% have actually set parental controls on their family computer.

76% of Indian children report that they are more careful about their online activities than their parents.

Indian kids are not following some common sense rules. 66% don’t watch out for too good to be true offers, 56% don’t always distrust online offers at first glance and 55% are not wary of too many pop-ups.

1 in four children think their parents had no idea what they do online, and 67% report they are free to download programs/applications on their own.

Parents are less likely to know their child has access to the Internet on their mobile phone (9% cf. 16% of children saying they do) and somewhere else like a friend’s house (9% cf. 22% of children saying they do).

92% of Indian children say they follow their family’s rules for the Internet.

24% have done something online that they have later regretted and they take the blame for some incidents especially when they ‘responded to an online or email scam’ (83% accept responsibility), ‘downloaded a virus’ (80% accept responsibility) and saw ‘violent or nude images online’ (67% accept responsibility).

Indian kids are most likely to feel ‘angry’ (41%), ‘upset’ (40%) and ‘afraid’ (35%) following an negative online situation.

Indian children still see their parents as the first point of call when something bad happens to them online.

The award-winning Norton Online Family service can give parents insight into their kids’ lives online. Norton Online Family is now available free of charge in 25 languages. Symantec’s Norton products protect consumers from cybercrime with technologies like antivirus, anti-spyware and phishing protection — while also being light on system resources. The company also provides services such as online backup, PC tuneup, and family online safety. Fan Norton on Facebook and follow @NortonOnline on Twitter.

Symantec and the Symantec Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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Additional resources:

PC Tattletale – Who’s protecting your child from internet predators, pedophiles, cyber-stalkers and online sex offenders, when you’re not there? PC Tattletale offers an all-in-one suite of parental controls & internet monitoring tools to record everything your child does when they go online.
Make Your Child Predator-Proof – 1 in 5 children are Sexually Solicited while on the Internet. Do you know how to keep your kids safe, both online and in person? 90% of the time or more, the predators are KNOWN to kids. Learn how to protect your kids from the advances of predators.
42% of Kids Surveyed Report Being Bullied Online. Is Your Child Safe? Get a Free Report at SafetyWeb – Protect your child’s reputation, privacy and safety. Be aware of your child’s social profiles across the web, view activity reports in one place, receive timely alerts for inappropriate content and stay on top of changes so you can better monitor your child online.