Irish 'most protective of children online'

Irish parents are among the most protective in the EU when it comes to their children using the internet, a survey has revealed.

The Europe-wide study found they are least likely to allow their youngsters to give out personal information online, talk to strangers, visit chatrooms or use email or instant messaging.

They are also more inclined to limit the amount of time their kids spend online and to have rules stopping them from setting up a profile on a community.

Martin Territt, director of the European Commission Representation in Ireland, said it was good that Irish parents are wary of the dangers posed by the internet.

“While the internet is a fantastic resource for children to learn and develop their communication skills, adult supervision is needed,” Mr Territt said.

“One of the most positive findings of this survey is that Irish parents are amongst the most likely in the EU to talk to their children about what they do online.

“With eight out of 10 Irish children regularly using the internet, they need to be aware of potential dangers.”

The Eurobarometer survey was conducted in October among parents of 6-17 year olds across the European Union and examined their views on internet safety.

Some 500 Irish parents were questioned.

More than eight out of 10 Irish parents will not allow their children to buy items over the internet and just over half have rules on what websites they can visit.

But they are more lenient on downloading or playing music, films or games - only three out of 10 have rules about this compared to six out of 10 German parents.

After the British, the Irish are the most likely to have monitoring or filtering software installed on their home computer – almost three quarters have this compared to just a fifth of Romanians.

More than half of all Irish parents say they are worried their children might get information about self-harm, suicide or anorexia either on the internet (55%) or that they might be bullied by other children online (56%) or on their mobile (57%).

Almost two thirds of Irish parents say they are worried that their children might come across sexually explicit or violently explicit images on the internet.

The French, the Portuguese and the Greeks are by far the most wary of this whereas Danish and Swedish parents tend to be far less worried.

Less than half would check the computer afterwards to see which sites their child had visited or check to see whether their child has a profile on a social networking site.

Compared to most other Europeans, Irish parents are also more likely to ask their children about their internet use on a regular basis.

They are also more likely to stay close by when their children are using the internet at home or actually sit with their children.

Eight out of 10 Irish children use the internet and six out of 10 have their own mobile phone.

Of those who use the internet, 88% do so at home although Irish children are the least likely to have their own computer.

61% of Irish kids have their own mobile – just slightly below the EU average of 64%.