Understand your child’s digital anxieties
School children today have added pressures that come from spending time online and using social media, particularly during the first term of a new school year.
A new study by Internet Matters shows that half of all schoolchildren wouldn’t tell their parents if they’d been upset by something online – so just because they don’t say anything, that doesn’t mean nothing’s wrong.
If you’re worried something might be troubling your children online, here’s how to decode their digital lives.
[Read more: Staying safe on social media: Advice for parents]
Children are more reluctant to talk about online issues like cyberbullying than they are about those in the real world. In a survey of over 10,000 schoolchildren, 52% wouldn’t speak to their parents if they’d been upset by something online. In comparison, 91% would tell them if something upset them face-to-face.
It seems parents are often the last to know something’s wrong. In the study – commissioned by not-for-profit organisation Internet Matters – 60% said they were more likely to tell the police, 59% their friends and 50% another family member before telling their parents. Bottling up these problems is causing children severe distress. Of the 10,028 six to 18-year-olds surveyed, 24% admitted that worrying about something that happened online stopped them sleeping. To help parents understand these hidden digital anxieties, Internet Matters has made four videos showing how to decode these signals. Each focuses on a different topic: cyber-bullying, sexting, inappropriate content and the pressures to be popular online. Each shows how children’s dismissive, one-word answers can often hide their online torment.
