The Internet and Today’s Youth: Protecting our Future

May has been another very busy month packed with events and plenty of travel! I spent a few days with some of our www.mcafee.com/activate best sales people at the McAfee President’s Club in Venice mcafee.com/activate product key and Croatia, followed by a short stop at thewhere I had the pleasure of catching  www.mcafee.com/activate download up with some of our German customers following my www.mcafee/activate presentation to the attendees. There was no stopping there – the day after the Executive Summit I travelled straight www.mcafee.com/activate product key back to Amsterdam for the McAfee Labs day at our Executive Briefing Centre. It was here that some of our EMEA journalists learned of the launch of McAfee’s vision for consumer security. The launch of this new service got me thinking about one particular demographic of consumer that is particularly vulnerable to threat: children.

Today’s youth has been brought up with the advent of the internet. As a generation of ‘digital natives’ they often know more about www.mcafee.com/activate the ins and outs of online than their parents do.  While it’s important for children to embrace new technologies www.mcafee/activate and the benefits they can bring, there are dangers in cyberspace that both children and parents need to be aware www.mcafee.com/activate download of. In many cases, parents feel intimidated about how mcafee.com/activate product key technologically www.mcafee.com/activate product key advanced their kids are and refrain from enforcing rules that are imperative for protection as kids surf and socialise online. But at what cost?

As a father of two, child internet safety is front of mind for me and I recently stumbled across some new research on the subject www.mcafee.com/activate as I was travelling www.mcafee/activate. Parenting website questioned 825 children aged mcafee.com/activate product key between seven www.mcafee.com/activate download and 16 on their internet usage and 1,127 parents on their perceptions of kids’ online habits.

The study found that more than a quarter of children pretend to be older to access certain websites, with an additional www.mcafee.com/activate half of respondents stating they have accidentally accessed inappropriate content online. What’s worse www.mcafee/activate is that almost 30% of the www.mcafee.com/activate product key mcafee.com/activate product key parents questioned admitted to allowing their children to access the Internet without restrictions or supervision www.mcafee.com/activate download.

We commissioned www.mcafee.com/activate download  last year mcafee.com/activate product key, conducted  www.mcafee/activate by OnePoll, which revealed similar findings www.mcafee.com/activate product key. We questioned 2,000 UK parents of children aged 5 to 15 on their kids use of the internet and found:

• 82% of five year olds already own or use an internet enabled device
• 60% of parents frequently let their www.mcafee.com/activate child surf the web without adult supervision
• One in six parents have been shocked to discover www.mcafee/activate their child viewing unsuitable content
• Only 45% of parents www.mcafee.com/activate product key have had a serious conversation with their child about the dangers of online; a third believe www.mcafee.com/activate the media mcafee.com/activate product key is responsible for www.mcafee/activate educating children
• 50% of parents haven’t taken any sort of preventative  www.mcafee.com/activate download measures to ensure their child can’t access inappropriate content

There’s a clear disconnect between what children are doing online and what parents believe they are getting up to www.mcafee.com/activate. More work needs to be done to redress the balance, and McAfee is committed to the cause. In November 2012 we launched an programme in the UK, following success for the mcafee.com/activate product key scheme in the US. The aim of the programme is to raise awareness  www.mcafee.com/activate product key of the potential risks  www.mcafee/activate and share knowledge about how to stay safe online. Our staff volunteer to teach online safety courses at schools in the communities where they live and work, alongside an www.mcafee.com/activate download online portal that provides schools, parents and kids with handy tips and tricks on how to safely navigate cyber space.

In addition to the programme, we had  on the 16^th May, which saw McAfee employees going into schools to talk to youngsters about the dangers of the www.mcafee.com/activate online world. This is an initiative that is www.mcafee.com/activate product key very much close www.mcafee/activate to my heart and, unlike the mcafee.com/activate product key rest of my work, is something that I bring home to www.mcafee.com/activate download share with my own kids.

In order for children to take advantage of the benefits of the internet, parents have a key role to play in educating children on the www.mcafee.com/activate dangers that lurk online www.mcafee/activate. Security software is available that can restrict what kids see and do on the web, taking a lot mcafee.com/activate product key of www.mcafee.com/activate download pressure off parents to stay current www.mcafee.com/activate product key with every new riskis an example and is built to empower parents to say ‘yes’ to their children’s online activity, knowing they will be safe as they learn and explore.

But it’s also important that parents get involved www.mcafee.com/activate with their kids’ online lives, and make sure they know how to act and react to what they see on the web. This should include frequent one-to-one conversations on www.mcafee/activate how to practice safe online behaviour, whether they www.mcafee.com/activate product key are researching their latest school project or chatting to friends. In playing an active www.mcafee.com/activate download role, parents can have peace of mind that their children are mcafee.com/activate product key safe, protected and informed about the risks.