- Parents’ concerns about screen time grow as children spend four hours online during summer holidays
- The sure net update only helps the families of the United Kingdom, although Vodafone operates in more than 20 countries
- Unstructured screen time increases during school breaks, which caused a new demand for digital limits in the home
As summer holidays contribute more freedom and less routines, children spend much longer online, but new research warned about the risks that this could bring.
A Vodafonethree report revealed that screen time among young people from 8 to 17 years has increased up to four hours of unstructured use per day, an increase of 42% compared to during the school period.
While part of this time is dedicated to remain in contact with friends or occupying long trips, almost two thirds (65%) of the parents of the United Kingdom have expressed concern about the digital habits of their children during school holidays and the general impact on them.
Digital safeguards arrive for children, but not for everyone
In response, Vodafonethree plans to launch an important update of its Net Secure application that offers improved parents control characteristics designed to help families manage the use of devices more easily.
“The unstructured screen time tends to increase naturally during the summer holidays, so we have partnered with the digital consciousness of the United Kingdom to offer a practical and friendly guide for parents,” said Nicki Lyons, a corporate matters and sustainability officer and sustainability of Vodafonethree.
“Combined with our safe net service, which offers the most complete parental controls of any important network in the United Kingdom, families may feel safer to navigate the digital world and enjoy a safer and safer summer break.”
The Secure Net application, which currently offers basic filtering and protection, will soon allow the parents of the United Kingdom to manage mobile and homemade broadband connections through a single interface.
Its objective is to create a simpler way for families to limit access to inappropriate content, reduce distractions and foster healthier routines.
The characteristics of the application include “Internet Pause”, “Dice Moda”, content filters and a “focus time” configuration that blocks certain applications during periods of study.
While Vodafonethree describes the tool as offering the most complete set of parental controls between the main networks of the United Kingdom, it is not a substitute for other forms of digital protection.
The application does not include antivirus or ransomware protection, and its main function is to control access instead of detecting threats.
Families who hope to improve general digital security may still need separate software to protect against more sophisticated malware or attacks.
However, despite its global reach, the company is making available the updated application only for its United Kingdom customers at no additional cost.
This raises questions, particularly given the universal nature of the problems involved.
Parents in the many markets of the Matriz Vodafone company face similar concerns about screen time, harmful content and lack of supervision, but stay out for now.
“We know that summer holidays can be a challenging moment. This cannot always be avoided, but without structure, it can lead to greater exposure to online damage, effects of mental health and unhealthy technological habits that are difficult to undo,” said Emma Robertson, CEO of Digital Awareness UK.
