One in three children aged 10 or under in the UK already owns a mobile phone, according to a new survey.
The research, carried out by cloud security service Westcoastcloud, found that a third of primary school children have a mobile phone – significantly higher than previously thought – and one in ten already own smartphone devices such as the iPhone .
Of the 2,000 UK households surveyed, 10 per cent said they thought it was fine for children as young as four to have their own mobile, while over two-thirds (68 per cent) said they felt compelled to but their kids a mobile in order to keep tabs on them.
However, a quarter (25 per cent) admitted they did not monitor what their children were using their phones for.
The survey also revealed that almost one in four children aged 10 have an email address and one in ten have a social networking account, despite the minimum age for Facebook and Myspace users being 13.
Bill Strain, director of Westcoastcloud, said: “It’s great that youngsters are interested and engaged with the latest technology, but children owning their own phones as young as four does seem unnecessary,”
He added: “Kids will always be able to gain access to their parents’ phones and laptops but when primary school age children gain access to the internet on these devices, parents need to be aware. There’s the potential that they could access unsuitable or potentially harmful content.”
“If parents are happy for their children to be using these products they need to understand that the internet is not a private place. Filtering products are available that can help parents keep their children safe online.”
