Instead, most parents (58%) believe they are doing as much as can be reasonably expected to keep their children safe from the harms of social media.
Separately, when it comes to schools, 41% of parents think they need to be doing more on the issue of social media, but 51% think schools are doing as much as can be reasonably expected.
What do parents see as the biggest obstacles to keeping their children safe online?
Almost three quarters of parents (73%) say that it’s difficult for parents to keep their children safe online. However, 49% say they personally feel they are well able to see and control their children’s online and social media usage; 33% feel badly equipped for this task.
When it comes to the biggest obstacles parents feel they face in managing their children’s use of social media, the most common answer is that it’s impossible to monitor their online activity all of the time. Half (54%) of parents picked this from our list.
The next most frequent answers are the difficulties caused by peer pressure from their children’s friends (46%), and striking the right balance between monitoring their children and respecting their privacy or independence (46%).
Other common answers include concerns their children will feel excluded (39%), while 37% say the failure of social media companies to pull their weight is a top problem.
