A recent study by the Mozilla organization suggests that 87% of French children from 0 to 17 years old are allowed to use the Internet for up to four hours a day. The majority of these children access the web mainly through smartphones and tablets, rather than traditional computers. Despite the fact that nearly 90% of children in the countries surveyed (France, United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Germany) have used the Internet, French children are not the most precocious users. In fact, the majority of French children only begin using the Internet between the ages of 8 and 11 (29% versus 32%).
When it comes to the uses of the youngest on the Internet, 43% of parents say it’s for school purposes, 40% for watching entertainment videos, and 29% for playing online. However, leisure activities dominate education, with videos (67%) and games (61%) taking the lead. Despite this, 80% of French parents consider their children’s relationship with the Internet to be healthy.
Although the majority of French parents (73%) consider the Internet a space that lacks security, 45% of them still post information or photos of their children online at least occasionally. To deal with these fears, more than 50% of French parents monitor their children in person when they are connected, and only 18% decide to install privacy and anti-tracking applications. The use of parental control tools is limited in France, with only 39% of parents using them.
These findings demonstrate that French children are highly connected to the Internet, and that parents are divided on the issue of online safety. As the Internet continues to become an increasingly essential daily tool, parents should be aware of the risks and take steps to ensure their children’s safety while using the web.
