New social media are constantly emerging, attracting kids and leaving the parents out of the picture – and bringing new dangers that parents could prevent if they stay educated and up to date.
According to the “Responsible Digital Parenting” survey, 43% of South African children have social media accounts. The most popular networks are: WhatsApp (88%), Facebook (65%), Instagram (55%), Snap Chat (23%).
The research shows that parents try to keep up with the pace of change and to sign up in those media as well. For instance, half of parents from South Africa befriend their children on social media and even chat there, 16% are friends without chatting.
However, some dangerous tendencies can be observed: 43% of parents are not sure which information is public in their child’s social media account, and thus they do not know that children can post such personal information as their hobbies (60%), age (57%), names of relatives (48%), home or mobile phone number (34%) or even photos of identity documents (10%).
“Parents have to be aware of the information their children grant access to while online as this data could possibly harm their child and themselves, help cybercriminals to realise identity theft. It is extremely important to teach children the right approach to store their personal information and to make sure they understand which information is private and is not meant for public eye,” states Andrey Sidenko, head of child safety at Kaspersky Network