In half of Russian families, adults use gadgets for joint leisure with children

In almost half of Russian families (48%), adults use digital devices for shared leisure time with children. Such data was obtained by Kaspersky Lab during the annual survey of families across the country, Izvestia got acquainted with the results on March 7.

The study involved 1,013 families with children aged 3 to 17 years old living in large cities.

It turned out that this practice is more common among parents of preschoolers and students under 10 years of age. 43% of respondents with teenagers aged 15-17 use gadgets, and 21% with children under seven years of age. Most often, parents watch movies, entertainment and popular science shows, and also play video games with them.

"Smartphones are appearing in children earlier and earlier and are becoming an integral part of life. Preschoolers have a key scenario for using gadgets — for playing games, watching videos and pictures. But high school students need a smartphone more for communicating with friends and studying," said Andrey Sidenko, head of online child safety at Kaspersky Lab.

He called for maintaining a balance between real and online life, as well as setting aside time for digital detox. At the same time, Sidenko stressed that accompanying children with gadgets can be used to explain to them the basics of digital security.

"However, on World Blackout Day, I would like to remind you how important it is to be able to maintain a balance between real and online life and set aside time for digital detox," he concluded.

On February 24, Valeria Glebova, Megafon's senior manager for parental control products, told Izvestia about useful applications on smartphones for children. According to her, it is worth downloading parental control software, which allows you to limit screen time for children, control access to games and applications.