We live in an era where internet addiction runs rampant among our youths. To most people, social media is practically a necessity in everyday life.
But it seems that the kids will be alright after all.
Russian cybersecurity and anti-virus company Kaspersky released its 2018-2019 report of 'What kids get up to online,' and some parts of the report were pleasant surprises.
How the research was conducted
Through Kaspersky's programs, the content of the websites that children attempt to access are scanned. The website is then filtered to fit one of fourteen specific categories and the module sends a notification to the Kaspersky Security Network.
Kaspersky Labs claims that no transfers of personal user data or violation of privacy takes place during this process. In addition to that, data was only taken from computers and not mobile devices. Kaspersky Labs also considered English to be the main language used internationally to simplify research.
What they found
The top three internet activities for Southeast Asian children remain to be software, audio and video websites, online messaging and electronic commerce.
Children most commonly use the internet to search for movies and cartoons to no one's surprise.
There has been a double-digit growth in children using the internet to access software, audio and video websites from 2018 to 2019. The software, audio and video category includes websites for downloading files such as movies, concert recordings, music videos and so on.
Among the Southeast Asia countries with a growth includes Indonesia (60.33 percent), the Philippines (49.12 percent), Singapore (42.32 percent), Thailand (37.23 percent) and Vietnam (50.14 percent).
Malaysia, however, had a slight decrease from 60.08 percent to 51.15 percent.
Meanwhile, there has been a decline in computer usage for online messaging due to the shift in preference in using mobile devices for messaging apps.
E-commerce has grown drastically within the past few years, becoming one of the top drivers for the digital economy. It includes online stores and auction websites, as well as online departments of regular stores. And the e-commerce growth is very well reflected by children's internet searches.
Singaporean children are the top shoppers at 18.82 percent, followed by the Philippines (13.21 percent), Malaysia (13.02 percent), while Indonesia had a growth of 4.8 percent and Thailand had a growth of 1.62 percent.
Vietnam had a tiny decrease from 1.03 percent to 1.02 percent of young shoppers online.
On a positive note, there have been an overall decrease in the percentage of Southeast Asian kids who use the internet to access adult content.
Overall, most countries expressed less interest in searching for pornography with the exception of Malaysia who showed a slight increase of only 0.09 percent in the category.
For parents worried about their children growing up on the internet.
"It is an accepted fact that our children are better internet navigators than us, adults," Yeo Siang Tiong, general manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky, says to the New Straits Times. "With their curiosity and quickness in grasping or even making their own online trends, it is undoubtedly important for parents to know their interests and habits."
But there are several recommended precautions that worried parents could take to mitigate leaving their children at the claws of the internet.
1. Basic guidelines
Rather than keeping your child away from the Internet, educate them about potential dangers and ways they can protect themselves online.
Set up some guidelines they can follow while online such as never revealing personal information about themselves and never agreeing to meet up in person with someone they've never met.
2. Communicate as a mentor
In one of Kaspersky's studies, 75 percent of children shared that they would feel safer if they could talk with their parents or an adult about online threats.
If your child confides with you about their online activities, don't immediately start berating them for making mistakes. Instead, take the opportunity to help them feel safe about confiding with you. Talk to them about what they can do to avoid making the same mistake in the future and what they can do now to solve the problem.
3. Educate yourself
Learn about your child's most-visited websites and be aware of potential threats on the internet that your child may come across. If there are any threats, take the time to discuss your worries with your child.
4. Trust them
While you should not be overly lax on your child's computer use, you shouldn't hover behind them watching their every move online either.
Show them that you trust them as it helps build mutual respect between you two. It'll also help them understand that you're not trying to control their online activities and that you just want them to be safe.
Being in a digital age can be scary, but just by communicating with one another, both parent and children can have educational and enjoyable experiences online.
"We hope these findings could help parents in understanding their kids better and in protecting them against the potential dangers in the digital world," Yeo says.
Cover image sourced from Pioneer Press.
