Many young children are using social media, and their activity is often going unmonitored by parents, a new poll finds.
Researchers from the University of Michigan surveyed parents of kids aged seven to 12 to ask about their children's social media usage, and how involved they are in monitoring the activity.
They found that one-third of youngsters aged seven to nine and just under half of kids aged 10 to 12 had used social media in the past 12 months.
While five out of six parents reported using at least one parental control, 40 percent of parents say that regular monitoring their child's social use is too time consuming.
A majority of parents also expressed concerns over children sharing private information, encountering sexual predators, seeing adult images or videos or being unable to discern false information.
The rise of smart devices has also allowed children easy access to social media apps like Instagram and TikTok, in turn giving parents more to worry about with their child's online usage (file image)
Around one-third of children aged seven to nine use social media, with just under half of children 10 to 12 using the apps. Under a quarter of kids of that age do not use any apps at all, according to a survey
With devices such as tablets and smart phones becoming commonplace in American households, children currently have easier access to social media and the internet than ever before.
Apps, including TikTok and Instagram in particular, have become popular among children in younger age groups.
The Internet has all kinds of content easily accessible, much of which is inappropriate for young children.
Researchers from Michigan conducted a national survey of parents, to find how parents are navigating the trials and tribulations of raising a child in a social-media obsessed world.
'There continues to be debate over how soon is too soon when it comes to using social apps and how parents should oversee it,' said Sarah Clark, Mott Poll co-director of the poll, in statement.
'Our poll looks at how often tweens and younger children use social platforms and how closely parents are monitoring these interactions.'
A majority of parents will only allow their children to use certain apps if they have parental controls (74%), are rated for their child's age group (64%) or are needed for school (63%)
Parents who responded to the survey were split into two groups, those with children aged seven to nine
