Should young children have internet access?

[Reywob64]

Just watching Channel 4 programme re musically app....as a mother and grandmother I feel so concerned and frightened !
Parents need to tackle this by not allowing children to have mobile phones with Internet access.......children need to be allowed to grow up securely, there's plenty of time for such apps when they are teenagers and able to cope with Internet safety, ban phones for young children....it only takes a group of parents to say No! We're not prepared to put our children in danger!

The internet is arguably one of the best sources of information available to us today. Yes, young children should have parental controls enable on devices. Yes, parents should stop them from accessing social media until they reach the appropriate age. Most of all, children should be taught about e-safety and what to look out for.

That does not mean banning all internet use.

*enabled

I would not have a ban. Children are growing up in a world of technology. What is needed are parental controls and internet safety.

Internet use is now cross-curricular from the age of 3, so you'll have a hard time enforcing that. Properly policed, it's an invaluable source of education.

I think too much screen time has many negative effects on children's health. Doctors have warned that social skills suffer when children spend more than one or two hours on the internet per day. We got very concerned about this with my husband so we decided to do something about it. We researched the internet and found an app that helps parents set screen time limits on their children's phone. Now we can control how much our daughter surfs the internet without turning off the internet for the whole house. The app is called Soanjo and you can find it in the Google App (play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=soanjo.com&hl=en). I think they offer 14 day free trial. It is definitely worth trying for the sake of your children's health. Cheers!

Children should not have internet access before the age of four or five depending on preference. After that, it's a matter of making sure they don't see things inappropriate for their age. I would say ALL parental blocks should be removed by twelve. The internet is a great place and a horrible place both at the same time. But by the time your child discovers the horrible stuff (and they will regardless of how much you restrict their access), they will have been aware of it for a while and will be impacted much less by it. The internet is not a danger to children, a small percentage of people who happen to use the internet may be. The internet is becoming a huge part of our world, like it or not. Hiding it from children will put them behind their peers in the long term.

There's no one answer, it depends on the age of the child, what they are accessing, how much parental supervision there is etc.

It would be unrealistic and unhelpful to have a blanket ban. There is so much that children can learn and enjoy at their fingertips.

Better to try and stop unsuitable content imo

I think there should be more supervision of children using the Internet. Far too many parents are oblivious to what their children are being exposed to online imo.

My kids have always had internet access. Dd had a youtube channel at 8.

But we have always had strict rules. Interney only when is shared areas so we can supervise. Parental controls. Dds youtube channel was a crafts one. You coild only see her hands and me or dh did any talking. She edited them and then we reviewed them to make sure you there was nothing that gave a clue to who she was.

I disagree that there should be a ban or that the internet isnt a place for kids. The same as anything, you (as parents or carers) need to supervise until a certain age. What that age is can depend on the kid.

Dd also got an old i phone at 10. Logged in as dh and synced to our i pad. So we could see everything.

I have no issue with the internet itself. But you eould be mad to let them have free reign.

Oh and yes we have screen time limits as well.

My 3 year old would have absolutely no idea what the internet is. I certainly can't see him accessing it in the next year either. He does watch TVs though, probably too much in some parents opinions