75 percent of parents admit they’ve been snooping on their child’s device to see what they’ve been up to online.
According to a new study, most parents have resorted to spying on their child’s device, and don’t feel the least bit bad about it.
84 percent of parents who snoop believe they’re perfectly within their right to look around on their child’s device because they’re just doing it for their own safety.
But do kids have a right to privacy on their device? According to 60 percent of parents, not at all.
And while most parents admit to spying, they also admit they don’t necessarily know what to look for in order to spy properly.
The new study, conducted by ParentWise, found that only four in ten parents are very confident they’d be able to see what type of interactions their kid is having while snooping around on their device, and 70 percent believe their child is more knowledgeable about technology than they are.
With kids now growing up with an iPad or other device in their hands, the tech knowledge gap has widened by quite a bit, as 58 percent of parents with kids aged 4-10 believe their child is already more tech-savvy than them.
The survey of 2,000 American parents found an incredibly high number are not really on board with how technology is affecting their children.
Nearly seven in ten parents (67 percent) agree their child’s cell phone is having a negative impact on them, with 63 percent even saying their child’s phone is hindering their ability to raise them properly.
Nine in ten (89 percent) parents are worried about what their child is being exposed to on their phone.
Social media is a big concern for parents, as 64 percent reported they were worried about their kids talking to strangers on social media, and 57 percent said they didn’t like how much time they spend on it.
Over half (57 percent) were worried about what kind of photos and videos they were seeing and 39 percent are worried about what kind of photos and videos they were posting.
"Worrying about your child’s safety online is one of modern parenting’s toughest struggles, especially with the ever-expanding way children are using devices,” said Steve Horst of ParentWise. “Teaching our children the best way to be responsible with their phones is what we at ParentWise call Mobile Parenting, a non-invasive way to make sure your child is safe.”
The survey went on to explore what parents believe are the biggest parenting challenges.
Over half (53 percent) agree that “having patience” is the toughest part about raising a child, followed by worrying about your child’s safety (46 percent) and giving them everything they want without spoiling them (37 percent).
And while parenting in the tech age can create some uncomfortable hurdles, most parents (73 percent) are open to the idea of embracing technology that can help them with certain parenting challenges.
“ParentWise has created a one of a kind dashboard of data for parents that is completely different than anything else before it,” said Horst. “Designed with your child's safety in mind, it has the most comprehensive location based alerting system on the market today. Modern parenting can be challenging, and with mobile phone usage at an all-time high, Mobile Parenting is a must.”
