Most Indian parents concerned about kids talking to strangers

Almost half (49 per cent) of Indian parents are concerned about their children interacting with a social predator or a cybercriminal online, a new study revealed on Wednesday.

Even if the the parents know these dangers, only 36 per cent of them admit to using software to monitor their children's activity on their devices, said a global study by US computer security software McAfee.

McAfee found that 93 per cent of Indian parents admit to talking to their children about the dangers of cybercriminals and identity theft.

"In today's connected world, parents play a crucial role to decide on the usage of technology and how it can influence their kids' lives," Anand Ramamoorthy, Managing Director, South Asia at McAfee, said in a statement.

"As Indians shift towards smart connected homes, we must help parents actively manage the way their families interact with connected devices to ensure that security and privacy measures are implemented," Ramamoorthy added.

Nearly 84 per cent of Indian parents allow their child to bring an internet-connected device to bed and 54 per cent of them claim they have discovered that their child visited an inappropriate website -- highest when compared to 13 other countries.

According to the study, parents tend to use older methods to monitor the device usage of their children.

For example, 59 per cent of Indian parents monitor their child's device usage by keeping the device in their possession and only giving the child the device when the parent can monitor.

Parents who are concerned about who their children are interacting with online, monitor how much time they spend in front of a screen.

According to the report, 57 per cent of Indian parents allow their child to have 1-2 hours of screen time per day, and 21 per cent allow their child less than one hour a day.

--IANS

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