Shocking new figures say that one in three children are sending naked selfies online because parents allow them to “roam free”.
A year-long review into children in the UK who have grown up on the internet found that children a young as three-years-old are spending over eight hours online a week.
With teens spending over 20 hours a week surfing the web, the Children’s Commissioner is serving a warning to parents to be aware of how much and how their children are spending their time online.
The Children’s Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield has warned about children being bullied and lured into sharing explicit images online and says it’s mostly down to “wholly irresponsible” adults.
The report highlighted concern that children are unknowingly giving away permission to sites and companies to use their pictures and other personal information by agreeing to the routine terms and conditions.
“The internet is an incredible force for good but it is wholly irresponsible to let them roam in a world for which they are ill-prepared, which is subject to limited regulation and which is controlled by a small number of powerful organisations,” Ms Longfield told The Telegraph of the report’s findings.
“It is critical that children are educated better so that they can enjoy the opportunities provided by the internet whilst minimising the well-known risks.
“It is also vital that children understand what they agree to when joining social media platforms, that their privacy is better protected, and they can have content posted about them removed quickly should they wish to.”
The commissioner is now calling for new curriculum in schools to prepare children to use the internet safely.
Teaching children to spot fake news stories and adults posing as children online, the new curriculum is intended increase children’s awareness of the dangers on the internet.
