Irish parents are among the most protective in the EU when it comes to their children using the internet, according to a new report.
A survey conducted among parents of 6-17 year-olds across the EU found that Irish parents are the least likely to allow their children to give out personal information on the net, talk to strangers, visit chat rooms or use email or instant messaging.
They are also more likely to limit the amount of time their children are allowed to spend online and to have rules to stop them from setting up a profile on an online community.
The Eurobarometer survey conducted on behalf of the European Commission examines parents' views on the safety of the internet for children. Interviews were conducted across the EU during October.
More than 8 out of 10 Irish parents said they would not allow their children shop online and just over 50 per cent had rules on what websites their children could visit. However they are more lenient on the question of downloading or playing music, films or games – only 3 out of 10 have rules about this compared to 6 out of 10 German parents.
After the British, Irish parents are the most likely to have monitoring or filtering software installed on the computer their children use at home – almost three quarters have this type of software compared to just a fifth of Romanians. Of the minority who haven't opted for it, more than a third feel they don't need it as they trust their children and more than quarter don't know how to access it.
Compared to most other Europeans, Irish parents are also more likely to ask their children about their internet use on a regular basis. They are also more likely to stay close by when their children are using the internet at home or actually sit with their children.
Less than half would check the computer afterwards to see which sites their child had visited or check to see whether their child has a profile on a social networking site. Less than quarter check their children's emails or IM service. These findings reflect averages across the EU.
Almost two thirds of Irish parents say they're worried that their kids might come across sexually explicit or violently explicit images on the internet. The French, the Portuguese and the Greeks are by far the most wary of this whereas Danish and Swedish parents tend to far less worried.
More than half of all Irish parents say they're worried that their children might get information about self-harm, suicide or anorexia either on the internet or that they might be bullied by other children on the internet or on their mobile.