September 2011
Featured in this insight: IT & telecommunications, Children & young people
Rise in smartphones amongst children under 10 gives rise to internet concerns: To coincide with the release of its Apple iPad Internet security product for schools, Westcoastcloud conducted a survey of 2,000 UK parents who have children under the age of ten.
The study found that some kids as young as 4 years old and 1 in 10 primary school goers under the age of 10 use an Apple iPhone.
In total, 68% of the parents polled said they purchased a smartphone for their child to keep tabs on them.
The second reason is that parents claim their children pester them constantly for smartphones until they cave in – 17% have bought a mobile phone for their child and have opted for the latest devices such as the iPhone or BlackBerry handsets.
Regarding who pays for the phone, 88% of parents foot the bill, with two-thirds of children being given a pay as you go plan. Three-quarters of parents top-up their child’s phone with £10 per month and 1 in 5 pay £20 monthly.
Experts have warned however that increasingly easy access to unsupervised Internet and adult content on smartphones and laptops is a threat to children’s safety and more needs to be done to safeguard them.
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