A recently released survey found an alarming rise in the rate of children being contacted by strangers online, especially kids who have their location publicly shared.
Cox Mobile, the mobile service provider for Cox Communications customers, conducted a survey called Generation Screen: Parenting and Mobile Safety and analyzed their customers' responses to the questionnaire.
Researchers discovered an “alarming” correlation between location sharing and strangers communicating with kids and teens through their mobile devices, Cox said.
Of the parents who responded, 56 percent said that their children’s location sharing is turned on, making their location “publicly accessible across several mobile apps.”
For the kids who share their mobile device’s location publicly, 31 percent of them were contacted by a stranger; 28 percent of those children’s parents said that the stranger “referenced their child’s location.”
Despite these findings, 73 percent of parents still say their children are “savvy” at hiding their online activity. One in seven respondents even admitted to creating a fake social media account to watch their children online, the survey found.
“Parenting today’s tech-savvy kids can be challenging [as] many get their first phone between the ages of ten and 14, much earlier than other generations,” Cox Communications President Mark Greatrex said in a press release. “While providing kids with greater access to technology enables many positive connections and benefits, the reality is that real dangers can exist just one tap or swipe away.”
The survey also found that more than half of parents believe the use of social media “elevates safety risks for kids” but 60 percent say their children still have them anyway. The things parents are most scared of, Cox Mobile found, are their children encountering “predatory” behavior and inappropriate content.
However, it isn’t all bad news, the survey concluded; 65 percent of parents who responded said they discuss mobile device safety with their kids several times a week, and 75 percent check screen time, text messages and phone calls their children receive either daily or a few times a week.
Nearly three quarters of parents are “friends” with their kids on social media, and 64 percent of them interact with them through those channels, the survey found.
The findings of the Cox Communications survey compliment similar findings from a research report by global nonprofit Common Sense Media, which helps families navigate media, tech and digital parenting.
“These risks are especially prevalent among young girls,” Cox found, adding that the Common Sense Media research showed more than half of girls aged 11 to 15 were contacted by a stranger through social media apps.
The dangers of social media have risen all the way to the federal level; several CEOs testified before the United States Senate in January during a hearing on the connection between social media and child exploitation.
In addition, a bill introduced to Congress in April 2023 by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) known as the Protecting Kids on Social Media Act, aims to limit access to platforms for children under the age of 13, among other verification requirements.
For tips on how to protect children from inappropriate activity, visit the U.S. Department of Justice's Keeping Children Safe Online webpage.