Almost 25% of six-year-olds have their own smartphone, according to a new survey.
The study, by Amárach, on behalf of online safety charity CyberSafeKids, has been released to mark Safer Internet Day.
Amárach surveyed 900 parents who have children aged 5-17, found that 45% of children aged ten can use their smartphone in their bedrooms and shows that more than half of parents do not feel well-equipped to teach children how to stay safe online.
A fifth of parents said they feel that the benefits of the internet and social media outweigh the risks for children.
Over 25% of parents expressed extreme concern about the risk of online grooming, cyberbullying, and the risk of accessing pornography.
Accessing disturbing content relating to self-harming, and addiction to social media were also cited by parents as concerns.
A total of 21% of respondents said their child has been purposely excluded from a group chat or online event, while 18% said their child had been called offensive names.
CyberSafeKids is launching a new online safety parental campaign called 'Same Rules Apply' which highlights the need to approach parenting online in the same way as parenting offline, emphasising that the same rules should be applied in both worlds.
"It's alarming to find that children as young as five are being allowed to use smartphones alone in their bedroom," said CyberSafeKids Chief Executive Alex Cooney.
"Our 'Same Rules Apply' campaign seeks to support parents in approaching children’s online lives with the same care, attention and supervision that we apply to their offline lives," Ms Cooney said.
Work on new online safety rules continues amid legal challenges
Online Safety Commissioner Niamh Hodnett has said that work on a new Online Safety Code is continuing amid legal challenges from two platforms.
Last month, Tumblr and Reddit commenced High Court actions against Irish media regulator Coimisiún na Meán, arguing that they should not be designated as "video-sharing platforms".
In January, the regulator named the ten platforms that will be covered by its new Online Safety Code.
They are Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Udemy, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, Pinterest, Tumblr and Reddit.
Once the new rules are established, they will be legally binding and platforms will face fines of up to €20m for breaches of the code.
Ms Hodnett said today that she would not comment on matters that are before the courts but that work on the new safety rules is ongoing.
"The Online Safety Code is a separate process to the designation of video-sharing platform services so the online safety code process continues," she said.
Concerns have been expressed by online safety groups that Snapchat is not included on the list of designated platforms.
"Our designated platforms are the video-sharing platforms that are established in Ireland, established in the state, and Snapchat is actually established in the UK," Ms Hodnett said.
"But, we have close relationships with Ofcom, the UK regulator, and we have relationships with Snapchat through them," she added.
From 17 February, Coimisiún na Meán will take up its enforcement role under the EU's set new online safety rules, the Digital Services Act.
"We at Coimisiún na Meán are ready and excited for the Digital Services Act to be directly applicable from the 17 February," Ms Hodnett said.
"Our office is very much ready, we have stood up a compliance and enforcement division and we also establishing a contact centre," she added.
The Online Safety Commissioner was speaking at an event at Microsoft's Dream Space in Dublin to mark Safer Internet Day.
Today is the 21st Safer Internet Day which is marked in more than 180 countries worldwide.
The theme for this year's event is "Tech in our World" and a series of events is being held, which will involve 200,000 children and young people from schools and organisations across Ireland.
They are exploring the role of digital technology in young people's lives, their views on new and emerging technology, and the changes they would like to see enacted online.
Safer Internet Day in Ireland is coordinated by the Irish Safer Internet Centre, a partnership between Webwise, ISPCC, National Parents Council and Hotline.ie.
Minister for Education Norma Foley paid tribute to those who promote the safer use of the internet by children.
"We acknowledge the great work of our schools," Ms Foley said.
"We salute too the work of Webwise and the Oide Support Service for Teachers, who provide additional resources and training to schools and webinars for parents to support them in keeping their children safe on the internet."
"We're also very keen that parents would continue to engage with the guidelines that have been presented around the use of smartphones for young people in primary schools," she added.
