JUST HALF OF UK PARENTS REGULARLY TALK TO THEIR TEENS ABOUT ONLINE SAFETY

• New research from TikTok and Internet Matters reveals a third of parents with children aged 13 to 17 talk to their teens about online safety on a weekly basis

·       The top triggers for parents talking to their teens about only safety identified as waiting until a problem occurs or they notice a negative change in their child's behaviour

·       Study also shows less than half of parents know that apps like TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter are 13+

·       In response, TikTok and Internet Matters launch new set of tips for parents to help support and facilitate conversation about online safety*

Only a third (33%) of UK parents whose 13 to 17 year olds use online platforms speak to their teens about online safety on a weekly basis, while 16% only speak to their children about the topic every few months, a new survey from TikTok, in partnership with Internet Matters, has revealed.  Encouragingly, 12% of parents say they speak to their teens about online safety on a daily basis.

In a study of over 2,000 UK parents to 13-17 year olds, the findings reveal high levels of confidence amongst parents when it comes to safety discussions: nine in 10 (92%) of parents surveyed say they feel confident talking to their teens about their social media use, whilst four in 10 parents surveyed (39%) use in-app tools like Family Pairing, Comment Filters and Content Controls to help manage their child's online safety.  A majority of parents (81%) surveyed believe it is their responsibility to talk to children about online safety, over teachers, friends and tech platforms.

In response to the findings, TikTok, with Internet Matters have launched new tips to help support parents and their teens online wellbeing.

Parents across the UK are savvy social media users themselves; almost all parents surveyed (91%) are on at least one online or social media platform, with nearly a third of these parents (31%) on TikTok. Reasons for joining range from helping them to better understand what goes on in an app that's used by their child (17%) and to monitoring their own child's use (16%).

Despite high levels of confidence and usage amongst parents, the survey also reveals gaps in knowledge. Only 46% of parents know that apps like TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter are 13+. Of most concern, 10% thought the minimum age was under 13.

Breaking down barriers 

The survey found parents are more likely to talk to their teens about practical and factual topics including screen time (61%) and fake news (60%) but struggle with advice on topics like body image (39%) and sex and sexting (49%).

For those parents who would avoid talking to their teens about sex and sexting, 66% say their child wouldn't want to talk to them about this topic.

TikTok and Internet Matters call for open conversations

The findings uncovered parents are reacting to their children’s online experiences: three quarters of parents surveyed (74%) would have a conversation if their child encountered a problem. 72% if they saw a change in their child's mood or behaviour, whilst only a quarter (28%) would start a conversation when their child opens up a new online account. CEO of Internet Matters, Carolyn Bunting MBE, has urged parents to have regular open conversations with their children about their digital life as they build their online presence.

The survey identified that UK parents are willing to learn and seek advice about how they can support their teens online. A quarter (26%) of respondents have turned to their own younger relatives for advice, while 27% will look to advice from organisations like Internet Matters, UK Safer Internet Centre and the NSPCC.

Tracy Elizabeth, Head of Family Safety & Developmental Health, TikTok: "The research suggests that whilst most parents feel confident discussing online safety with their teens, parents would also appreciate additional support approaching these conversations. What’s encouraging to see is a curiosity from parents to learn more about the positive steps they can take to keep their children safe in the digital world.

"At TikTok we want to help facilitate open and meaningful conversations between caregivers and teens to bring a sense of trust and agency to both parties. There is no one size fits all approach to child safety, which is why we think carefully about the unique needs of teens and families when developing our features and safety tools. Features like Family Pairing feature and Screen Time Management put young people's wellbeing at the heart and are customisable based on individual needs.”

Carolyn Bunting MBE, CEO, Internet Matters, added: “It’s vital that teens are helped to develop their critical thinking skills to navigate their online world, and parents play a hugely important role in teaching them those skills. Having regular open and honest conversations, talking about the different things that they have seen or experienced online, provides the perfect opportunity to develop strategies for different situations. But we all know parents are busy people, so we hope to help parents feel better supported and more confident to have those conversations.”

The findings also uncovered notable differences and similarities in approaches to digital parenting between mums and dads, with mums more likely than dads to have the passcode for their teens phone (35% vs 25%). Dads surveyed are also less likely to follow their teens on online platforms (22% vs 37%) or to ask their children to show them their online accounts (17% vs 26%).

A split in approach between sons and daughters was also unearthed. Half of parents (49%) surveyed will discuss body image with their daughters often, whilst only 29% will discuss it with their sons. Similar patterns were also seen across the topic of sex and sexting (44% will discuss with daughters vs 40% with sons) and bullying and harassment (58% will discuss with girls vs 52% with boys). Parents were more likely to discuss graphic content with their sons though (38% vs 33%).

In response to the findings, TikTok has worked with leading online safety not-for-profit Internet Matters to provide new tips parents to help them facilitate open dialogues around digital safety with their children.  

The survey also identified screen time as a topic 61% of parents talk to their teens about. To support those parents who aren't regularly speaking to their teens about screen time and to help further this conversation, TikTok has today launched new screen time management tools. After spending a certain amount of time on TikTok, teens will now see a prompt on their feed that shows an overview of the time they have spent on TikTok and encourages them to check out our screen time management tools. This proactive prompt in-feed will continue once a week until teens either review the screen time features available to them or reduce their screen time to under 100 minutes each day.