There is also increase in parents who actively look for online safety information

by AZALEA AZUAR / pic BERNAMA

A MAJORITY (70%) of Malaysian parents have allowed their children more screen time on their devices.

Google Malaysia head of communications Nadia Khan said the numbers have mainly accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic, where three out of four children spend an average of one to six hours online per day.

She noted that they are turning to technology for daily activities from remote learning, starting a book, to learning a new language. 

On the other hand, 86% of Malaysian parents are confident that their children will inform them of any issues encountered online while 80% have had online safety conversations with their children.

This is a slight improvement from 2021.

“With more kids going online, parents are also placing online safety as a priority in their family,” Nadia said in her presentation of the findings today.

However, there is a three-year age gap from when a child receives their first device (10-year-old) to their first online safety conversation (13-year-old).

Fortunately, more than half of the Malaysian parents (72%) have proactively looked for information online about online safety.

“I think this is a very encouraging sign that parents in Malaysia are placing online safety as a top most priority. 

“They are educating themselves so that they can be equipped to also nurture their children online,” Nadia added.

However, there are still 30% of parents who feel that their children are not informed about online safety issues.

Last August, Google Malaysia released its “Kids & Families Safety” survey on Malaysian parents’ management of their children’s online safety. 

The survey was conducted in several countries across Asia-Pacific with a sample size of 4,500 parents and children aged between five and 17 years old.