According to news research of Kaspersky Lab and the iconKids & Youth Institute, the way we live our "digital life" (Internet) has a significant impact on our family relationships. As people spend more and more time on the Internet, one-fifth of parents and children say the Internet and connected devices can be a source of family tension. 
The survey, which was attended by over 3.700 families in seven countries, provides information on how the digital world is disturbing traditional family dynamics. While in the past parents were the first to turn to children when they were looking for answers to questions or advice, one in four (23%) parents now states that their children prefer to connect to the Internet instead of talking to them.
Also, the survey found that almost half (42%) parents are not "friends" with their children in social media, and one in five (18%) believes this is due to the fact that their children will be they were embarrassing.
Overall, one-fifth of parents (21%) and children (22%) indicate that the Internet can cause family tension. The most worrying of all is the fact that one in three parents (31%) believes that the Internet isolates him from his children.
The conflict can be exacerbated by the fact that the devices used to connect to the Internet are often shared. Two-thirds of families surveyed said they share a family computer. As a result, a third of parents (31%) complain that their child has broken something on a connected device or 'infected' devices with a virus while on online (30%). Also, a quarter (24%) had to pay for something their child had ordered or "downloaded". Similarly, 13% of children blame their parents for breaking a device and 16% complain that their parents accidentally deleted some of their data.
Andrei Mochola, Head of Consumer Business of Kaspersky Lab, said"It makes sense that the sharing - and misuse - of connected devices could lead to conflicts within a family. However, as the family spends more and more time online, its dynamics are changing. It is important for families to constantly discuss how they can identify and respond to potential dangers, while parents and children have to agree together on the basic rules on how to navigate better in the digital world. It is also important to be serious about security issues. We therefore recommend to everyone the installation of an integrated home security solution for all home appliances. You also need to enhance these solutions with parental control software, which can prevent access to inappropriate websites or applications and prevent the disclosure or deletion of sensitive data. "
Janice Richardson, Senior Advisor to European Schoolnet, he adds: "Although the Internet can be a source of conflict for some families, recent research[1] of the European Commission's Joint Research Center highlights an emerging trend where siblings and extended family members are taking a much larger role in children's online activities. Predictably, children instinctively gravitate toward the person they perceive to be able to fix technical issues, advise them on websites and security tools, and give them more objective answers to sensitive questions. This trend shows how important it is for parents and guardians to develop their own technical skills and build relationships confidences with their children, setting at the same time some basic rules for the use of the Internet and the devices, in order to avoid conflicts. At the same time, software and social media providers should seek to develop more "family-friendly" tools.
More useful tips on protecting children on the Internet are available on the site kids.kaspersky.com. Information about a technical solution for these problems are available on the site Kaspersky Safe Kids.
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[1] Chaudron, S. et al (2015) Young children (0-8) and digital technology: a qualitative exploratory study across seven countries. JRC 93239, Joint Research Center, European Commission. http://publications.jrc.ec.
