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UK Wedding News

19/11/2013

60% Of Parents Monitor Their Children's Messages

Six out of 10 parents regularly snoop on their children's emails, text messages and Facebook messages, according to a new study.

The research also found that a majority of parents felt the checks are 'necessary' to keep tabs on who their children are interacting with online.

The poll, which was carried out by internet security firm Bullguard, found one in 10 parents know the passwords to their children's smartphone or computer, despite their son or daughter trying to keep it private. While for one in five parents, they said they had been "shocked" by content they had discovered on their children's email, text or Facebook accounts.

Cyberbulling was a concern for many parents, with more than one in 10 saying their child had been bullied online, while 17% confessed they have had to intervene after their child was threatened. For 23% of parents, they said their child did not know who the perpetrator was.

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Elsewhere, the study found that nearly 38% of parents believe they would lose their child's trust completely if they confessed to snooping, while 37% had brought up the issues they were concerned about but hadn't said they had seen private content on their child's computer or phone.

Reading emails, texts and messages were the most popular way for parents to spy on their kids as well as checking recent call lists and monitoring their internet history. Other ways that parents snoop on their children include asking teachers to keep an eye on their internet use and getting a sibling to help keep tabs.

Commenting on the findings, Alex Balan of BullGuard said: "Parents do face a real moral dilemma as to whether they should check what their children are doing online.

"It’s understandable to want to keep tabs on the sites that they are visiting but whether to read private emails, texts and messages poses a real quandary for parents.

"While you want to look out for your child and ensure they are safe you also want them to be technologically savvy and have their own independence."

(JP/CD)

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"Six out of 10 parents regularly snoop on their children's emails, text messages and Facebook messages, according to a new study."