Majority of Parents Overlook Parental Controls, McAfee Says

Majority of Parents Overlook Parental Controls, McAfee Says

Security firm McAfee revealed that 80 percent of parents who have parental control bundled with their security software don’t even bother to turn it on. The firm further said that less than 50 percent of parents take full control of their children’s browsing activities.
 

Meanwhile, 30 percent of the respondents said they allow their children to surf the net freely in their own bedroom without monitoring them. Only 54 percent said they know their children have social networking accounts.

 

McAfee’s Greg Day said, "While it is encouraging to see from our research that online security seems to be firmly on parents' agendas, the findings reveal that there are some crucial gaps in awareness and simple active protection which if addressed could fast take safe family surfing to the next level, enabling children to get the most that the Internet has to offer.”

 

"Parents should also look to turn their children's internet usage at home into a joint learning experience - where children teach parents about new online tools and trends and parents act as advisers. This should not be left to one parent as they should take a shared approach, as a fragmented approach will mean valuable insight is lost. This will help to open up family discussions and create a more informed and safer surfing experience,” Day added.