Parents urged to teach their children about internet safety

Only one in five parents have talked to their children about reporting online bullying

Two people were jailed for sending threats to Caroline Criado-Perez (PA)

Two-thirds of UK parents have discussed internet safety with their children but less than a fifth have discussed how to report cyberbullying and online sexual abuse, new research shows.

Sixty eight per cent of parents of children aged 11-15 polled for the UK Safer Internet Centre said they had discussed at least one key internet safety issue with them.

But only 19% of those polled ahead of today's 11th annual global Safer Internet Day (Sid) said they discussed with children how to report problems encountered online.

It comes after high profile cases of Twitter abuse, including two people being jailed for sending threats to feminist campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez in January.

Prime Minister David Cameron has thrown the Government's support behind Sid, whose British organiser the UK Safer Internet Centre is calling for parents to speak to their children more about online safety

Culture Secretary Maria Miller is due to speak at an event at Microsoft's UK headquarters in London today, alongside 2012 Olympics medal-winning gymnast Beth Tweddle.

Tweddle, who went on to win ITV's Dancing On Ice, threw her support behind the campaign after being subjected to abuse on Twitter in January.

“It's really important young people feel safe and empowered online and know how to report anything that upsets them or to tell an adult.

”It's also vital that parents feel confident enough to discuss online safety with their children.“

More than 500 organisations have pledged their support for SID, ranging from schools and community groups to organisations including the BBC, Tesco, Microsoft, Disney Club Penguin, Facebook, Google and the NSPCC.

The research by ComRes for the Safer Internet Centre shows just 37% of 1,100 parents have spoken to their children about what to do if something upsets them online.

Almost half of parents say that they have spoken about meeting strangers on the internet (48%) and 43% have discussed protecting personal information online.

The Safer Internet Centre polled 21,000 children online and people being unkind online was their top concern.

But little more than a third of parents (35%) said they had discussed cyberbullying and only 23% say they have spoken to their children about being ”a good friend“ online.

Only one in five parents (21%) said they had spoken to their children about sexting.

The increasingly online-savvy nature of young people today was reflected by the fact that two in five of those aged between seven and 19 had created an app, website, game or blog.

Will Gardner, director of the UK Safer Internet Centre, said: ”Everyone has responsibility to make internet safety a priority.

“Young people are increasingly becoming digital creators and we must equip them with the skills to continue to create and innovate by working together to make the internet a great and safe place.”

A separate poll of 2,000 children carried out for the BBC ahead of SID shows almost one in five children (19%) who use tablets or smartphones have been upset by something they've seen on them in the last year, double the number parents thought had been upset.

Half of those children, who were aged eight to 16, were worried by sexual content or “rude things”.

Additionally, security firm ESET UK found less than half of parents block unsuitable material on internet-enabled devices bought for their children.

The UK-wide research of parents with children aged between 5-18 years old by security experts, ESET UK, found that although 77% of parents bought their children an internet-enabled device in the past year, over half neglected to ensure they also bought anti-virus to protect it.

PA