Parents rising concern over children online (Wales) Add to Your Pages
04 February 2020
Gaming and self-harm among biggest concerns
Half of older children have seen hateful content online
Greta effect driving increased online social consciousness among kids
More UK parents than ever feel children's online use now carries more risks than benefits, according to Ofcom's latest annual study of children's media and online lives.[1]
Parents and carers are becoming more likely to trust their children with greater digital independence at a younger age [2]. But far fewer believe the benefits of their child being online outweigh the risks than five years ago (55% across the UK, down from 65% in 2015). Parents and carers in Wales, however, are more likely than the UK average to feel more positively about the internet, with two-thirds (67%) agreeing that the benefits to their children outweigh the risks.
This comes as children are now more likely to see hateful content online. Half (51%) of 12-15s across the UK who go online had seen hateful content in the last year, an increase from 34% in 2016. Fewer children in Wales claim to see this type of content (37%).[3]
Parents across the UK are increasingly concerned about their child seeing content which might encourage them to harm themselves (45%, up from 39% in 2018); this is especially true among parents in Wales (65%). Similarly, two gaming-related problems are particularly concerning to parents in Wales; the pressure on their child to make in-game purchases of things like loot boxes', a virtual item containing rewards (55% vs. 42% UK average) and the possibility of their child being bullied via online games (51%, vs. 36% UK average).
However, UK parents are now more likely than in 2018 to speak to their children about staying safe online (85%, up from 81%). Parents in Wales are more likely to have these conversations (95%) than the UK average. UK parents are also nearly twice as likely to go online themselves for support and information about keeping their children safe than a year before (21%, up from 12%). Again, parents in Wales are more likely to do this than the UK average (33%).
Influencers, online activism and girl gamersLooking at what today's children are doing online, Ofcom has uncovered three notable online trends over the last year.
The Greta effect. We have seen an increase in online social activism among children. Almost a fifth (18%, up from 12% in a year) of 12-15s across the UK use social media to express support for causes and organisations potentially environmental, political or charitable by sharing or commenting on posts. One in 10 signed petitions on social media.
Rise of the vlogger next door'. While high-profile YouTube stars remain popular, children are now increasingly drawn to influencers like them. These people, known as micro' or nano' influencers, often have fewer followers. They might be local to a child's area or share a niche interest. Children described these influencers as more relatable and directly engaged with their followers, while others described being able to imitate their content on their own social media channels.
Girl gamers on the increase. Almost half (48%) of girls aged 5-15 across the UK now play games online a big rise from 39% in 2018. The proportion of boy gamers is unchanged at 71%, but boys spend twice as long playing online each week as girls (14 hours 36 minutes vs. 7 hours 30 minutes). Boys cited FIFA, Crew 2, Destiny 2 and Fortnite as examples of the games they play. Children in wales are more likely than the UK average to play games online (67% vs 59%).
Social media use more fragmentedToday's study finds that older children are using a wider range of social media platforms than ever before. WhatsApp in particular has grown in popularity among 12-15 year-olds since last year, despite having a minimum age limit of 16.
WhatsApp is now used by almost two thirds of older children (62%) up from 43% in 2018. For the first time, it rivals Facebook (69%), Snapchat (68%) and Instagram (66%) as one of the top social media platforms for older children.
Newer platforms such as TikTok which enables users to create 15-second lip-sync, comedy and talent videos are also becoming more popular. Around one in seven older children across the UK use TikTok (13%) up from 8% in 2018. One in 20 older children use Twitch the live streaming platform for gamers. Similar proportions of 8-15s in Wales use TikTok (12%) and Twitch (7%).
Alexa how many children use smart speakers?Children are using more connected devices than ever before. Among these, smart speakers saw the biggest increase in use over the last year. More than a quarter of children now use them up from 15% in 2018 overtaking radios (22%) for the first time. Children in Wales are more likely than the UK average to use smart speakers (41%) and radios (33%). UK children's use of smart TVs also rose from 61% to 67% in 2019 - consistent with use among children in Wales (68%).
Children's viewing habits are changing radically too. Almost twice as many children watch streaming content than they did five years ago (80% in 2019 vs. 44% in 2015). In 2019, fewer children watched traditional broadcast TV than streaming content (74%), with a quarter not watching it at all. Children in Wales are more likely to watch broadcast TV (81%) than the UK average, but similar proportions to the UK watch streaming content (82%).
But YouTube is as popular as ever among UK children, remaining children's firm favourite for video ahead of Netflix, Amazon Prime, the BBC and ITV with children in Wales echoing this.[4]
The age of digital independence
When it comes to going online, children are most likely to use a tablet (68%) but mobiles are becoming increasingly popular and children
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Witbe brings its AI-native testing and monitoring infrastructure to Amsterdam: demonstrations on real devices, a peer-reviewed technical paper in the conference...
23/07/2026
Quickplay, Caretta Research, Evergent, and Yospace have announced that the renowned IBC Pride Happy Hour will once again bring the vibe and fun back to IBC on F...
23/07/2026
At IBC2026, Interra Systems will present this year's focus: operational AI at scale for QC, monitoring, and captioning workflows. The industry has moved pas...
23/07/2026
Illusionfx is finally coming!
Alex Perea July 23, 2026
0 Comments
The new website is now live to mark the occasion.
Since the last update, feedback h...
23/07/2026
Evergent (5.A86) will showcase its Agentic Revenue Orchestration Platform for streaming services, sports leagues, pay-TV operators at IBC2026 (RAI Amsterdam, 11...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
David Dvir, 2D founder (left), Sundeep Reddy (center), and Jean-Marc Bouchut (right), both of Zeiss...
23/07/2026
Screen Australia announces new national documentary accelerator program 23 July 2026
Screen Australia has today announced the Above the Line Documentary Accel...
23/07/2026
RT Commercial has today announced Centra as the official food partner once again of The Traitors Ireland, coming to RT One and RT Player later this year.
Ce...
23/07/2026
RT Commercial today announced Honda as sponsor of Today with David McCullagh RT Radio 1, weekdays 9am 11am.
Broadcasting directly after Morning Ireland in ...
23/07/2026
RT News is pleased to announce Barry Gallagher has been assigned as the new journalist covering news from Cork, Kerry and the wider Southern region
Working al...
23/07/2026
Lock in and load up the cloud. GFN Thursday brings fresh updates and new adventu...
22/07/2026
Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...
22/07/2026
The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...
22/07/2026
From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...
22/07/2026
TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...
22/07/2026
Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...
22/07/2026
Harmonic has announced a $25,000 donation to Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) fo...
22/07/2026
Telemundo has announced it has acquired from UC3 exclusive U.S. Spanish-language...
22/07/2026
The Rest Is Football, hosted by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards, ...
22/07/2026
Sports Studio has announced a partnership with TheSoul Group to distribute Free ...
22/07/2026
Daktronics has concluded its 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day hybrid event combining virtual sessions with hands-on host school visits across the countr...
22/07/2026
FOR-A America will exhibit at the MMCA Show in Pensacola, Florida (July 21-24), marking the company's first appearance at the house of worship AV event. FOR...
22/07/2026
The New York Yankees have selected Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) to connect Ya...
22/07/2026
Calrec will exhibit at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.C47) with demonstrations of its IP-native audio ecosystem built around the Argo console range, and will announce two ne...
22/07/2026
Solid State Logic has announced the appointment of Algam EKO as its distributor for SSL large format consoles in Italy, covering the Live, Broadcast, and Studio...
22/07/2026
FloSports has announced the launch of the FloSports Channel, a free ad-supported streaming channel premiering on Prime Video in the U.S. on July 21. The channel...
22/07/2026
Banana Ball TV (BTV), the broadcast operation of the Savannah Bananas, has insta...
22/07/2026
SiriusXM and Audacy have announced an agreement bringing 42 Audacy sports, news, and talk stations from 29 U.S. markets to SiriusXM. Twenty-three Audacy sports ...
22/07/2026
The collaboration produced more than 500 short-form videos across four cities th...
22/07/2026
At 2,600 sq. ft., the new home of digital content houses a main studio, podcast space, and an auxiliary control room
NFL franchises are accelerating their prod...
22/07/2026
Library now available in Engine Player
Another of Eduardo Tarilonte's popular sample libraries has just been moved over to Engine Audio's Engine Pla...
22/07/2026
All-in-one mic & DSP interface overhauled
Cloudvocal have just refreshed the design of their all-in-one mic, audio interface and DSP processor, introducing ...
22/07/2026
The final boss of the lost dual-op-amp circuit
Electro-Harmonix have just introduced the Deluxe Big Muff Pi 2, which they say offers their latest take on t...
22/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Proven managed IP solution helps broadcasters confidently navigate the future of broadcast distribution
LTN announces it has completed successful satellite-to-...
22/07/2026
Today, Chaos announced V-Ray 7, update 4, eliminating the need for asset conversions and tool switching, which slow down media and entertainment pipelines. Arti...
22/07/2026
An AI playground for the Project Indigo camera app
Marc Levoy July 22, 2026
0 Comments
At left is the user interface of our Playground, running on an ...
Parents rising concern over children online (Wales) Add to Your Pages 
