Preschoolers exposed to adult content in kids’ apps

SCREEN addiction isn’t the only concern with young children and their mobile apps, a new study has found.

PARENTS must closely monitor their preschoolers’ educational apps, as inappropriate adult advertising content can pop up at any time, one of Australia’s top cyber safety experts warns.

“Just because an app is educational does not mean it is safe,” former police officer Susan McLean told The Courier-Mail.

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“I have seen pornography and advertising for alcohol in apps for very small children.

“Really, it seems nothing is off-limits.”

The warning comes as new research in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics shows that advertising of some sort appears in 95 per cent of apps for children under five.

Researchers found play was frequently interrupted by pop-up video ads and overt banner ads that were not only distracting but sometimes age-inappropriate.

“Never let a child download their own apps, even if it is for learning,” Ms McLean said.

“Parents should search the internet for information on any app to try to choose those where quality is enforced.

“This is not easy, so the best thing to do is keep a close eye on the child when using the apps.”

Nixon Symons and friend Kiera Pledger, both 4, are closely supervised on their educational apps. Picture: Adam Head

The study reviewed 135 Digital play apps.

Senior author Jenny Radesky, a developmental behavioural expert and paediatrician at Mott Children’s Hospital in Michigan, said: “With young children now using mobile devices on an average of one hour a day, it’s important to understand how this type of commercial exposure may impact children’s health and wellbeing.

“Our findings show that the early childhood app market is a wild west, with a lot of apps appearing more focused on making money than the child’s play experience.

“This has important implications for advertising regulation, the ethics of child app design, as well as how parents discern which children’s apps are worth downloading.”

Banner ads covering the sides or top and bottom of the screen during gameplay were present in 17 per cent of all apps and 27 per cent of free apps.

Some banners promoted adult apps that required a user to watch the full promo before a box could be closed.

“Digital-based advertising is more personalised, on-demand and embedded within interactive mobile devices, and children may think it’s just part of the game,” the researcher said.

Nixon Symons, 4, and his friend Keira Pledger, 4, love to learn on the iPad but are carefully monitored by early learning staff.