Many UAE kids had negative online experience

More than half (54 per cent) of the UAE’s children between 8 and 17 have experienced a negative situation online,  according to the Norton Online Family Report.

According to this report, the most frequent incidents cited by children were:

• I downloaded a virus to my own or to my family computer (28 per cent)

• Another child or teenager I don't know tried to add me as a friend on a social networking site (22 per cent)

• I have seen very violent images, videos or games online (20 per cent)

Cybercrime is evolving at a rapid pace in the UAE, not only across PCs and laptops but also through social media and mobile devices that younger children and teenagers are increasingly having access to. With this in mind, parents are starting to take note about how they can protect their children. The biggest fears among parents in the UAE about their child and the internet are currently:

• That they will be exposed to indecent material (43 per cent)

• That they are interacting with inappropriate people (35 per cent)

• That they will give out too much personal information to strangers (35 per cent)

“Kids are developing their online identity at an earlier age than ever before,” said Tamim Taufiq, Head of Consumer Sales MENA,” “and they need parents, teachers and other role models to help them figure out where to go, what to say, how to act and perhaps most importantly, how not to act. Negative situations online can have repercussions in the real world—from bullying to money lost in scams to giving strangers personal information.”

“Parents and teachers play an enormous role in keeping kids—and themselves—safe online, and this year’s Norton Online Family Report shows a real need for further education,” added Taufiq. “Having an open dialogue with kids in a safe environment like at home or school can be much more effective, along with arming children with the tools they need to stay safe. We are pleased to see that over half the parents surveyed are talking to their kids about online safety.”

It’s not all bad news

Research illustrates that parents are setting ground rules for online use, which helps kids have a more positive experience and only three per cent of parents in the UAE say they have no idea what their children do online.

The Norton Online Family Report shows that 57 per cent of parents have house rules for how their children can use the Internet although this still leaves room for improvement with only 38% having set parental controls on the family computers. For those households where rules exist, while the “good kids” who follow the rules stay relatively safe with 52 per cent having had a negative experience online, this increases to 57 per cent among rule-breakers.

We DO need education

The vast majority of parents think schools should integrate technology to mirror real life – 76 per cent of children and 83 per cent of teachers agree while 50% of children think they get too little education at school about online safety.  Teachers feel that teaching children about internet safety should be a joint responsibility between themselves and parents (89 per cent). Parents are willing to take on the responsibility (49  per cent) but many also think it’s a shared duty between themselves and teachers (47 per cent). We can only expect this to increase over the next few years as teachers anticipate more internet and computer courses in the next one to two years.

Teachers at risk?

This year’s Norton report identifies the new issue of “cyberbaiting,” a growing phenomenon where kids taunt their teachers, then capture the distressed reactions via cell phone videos, of which 28 per cent of teachers have personally experienced or know another teacher who has experienced this in the UAE.

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