More parents than ever believe children going online causes 'more harm than good'
A study by Ofcom has found two million mums and dads feel that way, with gaming and self-harm the biggest concerns.
Last updated 4th Feb 2020
Parents are becoming increasingly concerned about children's social media and online activity, according to regulator Ofcom.
Just over half (55%) of parents and carers believe that the benefits of youngsters being online outweigh the risks - a 10% decrease since 2015, according to the watchdog.
This has coincided with more children seeing hateful content online than they were previously, with 51% of 12 to 15-year-olds seeing such material in the last year.
This is an increase from 34% in 2016.
Yih-Choung Teh, strategy and research group director at Ofcom, said: "Today's children have never known life without the internet, but two million parents now feel the internet causes them more harm than good.''
He added that it is "encouraging'' that more parents, carers and teachers are now taking it upon themselves to talk about online safety with children.
NK Theatre Arts are a performance group who go into schools with plays on topics like knife-crime and the dangers of social media.
This week, they've been speaking to pupils in Romiley.
The Ofcom report, Children And Parents: Media Use And Attitudes Report 2019, was based on interviews with around 3,500 parents and children.
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