As students start new lives at university this autumn, parents are left to understand technology without their children’s help.
Nearly a third (31%) of parents who are tech novices and have children at college or university admit to struggling with daily tech challenges without their children’s support. In an era of family members frequently asking ‘can you just reset the router’ or ‘can you just set up emails on my new phone’, parents may find life more difficult once their offspring have left the nest.
Heading off to university is an exciting experience. It’s an opportunity for young people to become more independent and create lifelong friendships. However, research from Kaspersky has discovered that students may still be lumbered with being the family IT guru, despite leaving home. In fact, over a third (43%) of parents who are tech novices and have children at college or university admit to calling them on the phone for remote tech support. 17% of these parents have even stated they miss their children’s IT support more than their company when they are not around.
Young people have accepted their role as the ‘go-to’ person for advice, with 59% of tech-savvy students saying they are often asked to help family members with technology. Students are also conflicted about how responsible they should be in helping their parents. While many may not want to be pestered, 59% of students have at least one worry regarding their parents’ ability to do tech tasks or risk being a victim of fraud when they are not around. This figure rises to 63% among young people[1].
The truth is, if the child at university cannot help, then it is highly likely that some parents will ask their younger siblings instead. In fact, 65% of parents who admit to not knowing a lot about technology and have children at university or college still rely on asking younger family members for tech support.
‘Whether or not you have grown up with technology does not change the fact we are more dependant than ever on it for our day to day lives. Our aim is to empower everyone with the knowledge and confidence to embrace the future and get the most out of technology, free from the worry of cybercrime,’ explains Alexander Moiseev, Chief Business Officer, Kaspersky.
“The human race is never wholly comfortable with change. We can be suspicious, rigid and often wonder why we need to change something that appears to be working well for us. Our need to protect our vulnerable sense of getting older or feeling exposed by our lack of understanding swiftly presents itself as a rejection of the need for change or instead by a vortex of despair or abdication around no longer being able to keep up. There is a striking need for consumers to feel more knowledgeable about how to gain greater protection on devices and how to utilise adequate security software to ensure their details and activity stay safe,” adds Kathleen Saxton, psychotherapist.
The full ‘Can you just’ report, which examines the differences between how younger and older generations use technology, can be accessed here. Kaspersky Lab has also created a series of ‘Can you just’ guides, to empower the older generation to arm themselves against tech knowledge gaps and cyberattacks. It can be accessed here.
Research methodology
An online survey of 2,000 UK adults aged 17+ with nationally representative quotas set for gender, age and region conducted by independent market research agency, Arlington Research.
About Kaspersky
Kaspersky is a global cybersecurity company founded in 1997. Kaspersky’s deep threat intelligence and security expertise is constantly transforming into innovative security solutions and services to protect businesses, critical infrastructure, governments and consumers around the globe. The company’s comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection and a number of specialized security solutions and services to fight sophisticated and evolving digital threats. Over 400 million users are protected by Kaspersky technologies and we help 270,000 corporate clients protect what matters most to them. Learn more at www.kaspersky.com.
[1]Respondents aged 17-24 years old
