The average parent underestimates their child’s smartphone screen-time by more than 250%, according to a new survey. It also found that most parents never check their kids’ devices.

The average child with a smartphone spends three and a half hours a day on it. Yet parents believed they were spending only an hour and 18 minutes, on average. 

Yet nearly half of parents (47%) agreed their kids were spending too much time online.

Those were among the findings from a new survey of 1,000 parents by global electronics company RS Components.

In another alarming finding, it found kids were spending nearly the equivalent of a full-time workday - seven hours - on technology. 

The average age for smartphone access was 11-12, with virtual reality devices, smart assistants and smartwatches following between ages 13 and 14.

The average child spends the equivalent of a full-time workday - seven hours - on technology. 

The majority of parents (61%) told researchers they have never checked their child’s devices and social media accounts, and 67% admitted they had no way to track what their child is accessing online.

Cyber experts agree that checking children’s devices regularly - and installing parental controls to act as a second pair of eyes - are the hallmarks of responsible digital parenting.

Parental controls like Family Zone give you much-needed visibility of your child’s online behaviour, with detailed reporting, informative explainers and notifications when risky activity is detected.