23% of Internet users under 9 years in KSA

Internet is an essential part of today’s world – all cultures, countries and ages. It’s won the trust over everyone for providing accurate sources & information we seek. Children now have access to an almost endless supply of information and opportunity for interaction through internet. This also means our children are exposed to all sorts of risks and dangers of exposing them to content we might not want them to see or know. 

In Saudi Arabia, this trend is picking up among the children due to lesser supervision by adults in their families. For 2018, 92.51% of Saudi families used the Internet according to the Saudi General Authority for Statistics, a survey on the use of the Internet and telecommunications by families and individuals. From these stats, 23% of the users are said to be children in the age groups of 5 – 9 yrs and about 48% are between the age group 10-14 yrs. 

According to recent surveys, 1 out every 3 internet users are children worldwide. This is extremely alarming given the way it influences their minds. While some want to ensure this might lead to issues in children, some also believe Internet is the ‘language of the age’ is one strong source providing immense education and information to our children helping them cope with competition at an early age.

It has become an addiction for most of them as more & more kids spend most of their waking time on the net raising a concern about them missing out on real life experiences which is also important. 

There’s definitely no implying that internet should not be used at all, as it is a valuable source of information and learning for everyone however, using it properly and sparsely per your requirements is important. So constant monitoring and right guidance from parents and adults around children on Internet usage is a must to efficiently use the biggest miracle of the centuries to come.