The National Walkie Talkie Network has grown exponentially in recent years and is becoming increasingly popular.
But a new survey of parents and children who use walkie-talkies also reveals some troubling trends.
A poll of nearly 600 parents and their children from across the country revealed many of them are “not sure if they can hear the walkie chatters or not.”
In a new poll of parents, only 42 percent of them said they “believe they can understand and control their child’s walkie talks.”
In fact, only 44 percent said they are “likely” or “very likely” to understand what their child is saying.
And only 27 percent of parents said they would be “encouraged” to “use” the walkies.
According to the survey, nearly 40 percent of respondents said they wouldn’t use the walky-talkie if it were “a danger.”
In addition, only 35 percent of the parents said their children are “very” or very likely to respond to their walkie chats, and only 32 percent said that their child would be more likely to answer if they were “very.”
While these results are troubling, the survey was conducted by The WalkieTalk Network, a digital network created by The Walt Disney Company that offers free and unlimited walkie call options to millions of subscribers.
The network was created in response to the National WalkiTalk Registry, which allowed children to ask their parents questions and receive information on how to prevent children from accidentally dialing the wrong number.
The Walki Talk Network also includes a free app for kids that allows parents to share their walki talkies with their children.
However, the poll results also show that many parents aren’t as enthusiastic about using walkie phones as they once were.
Only 37 percent of surveyed parents said that they would use the new technology if it was “very convenient” for their children, compared to 49 percent who said they’d never use the technology.
The survey results also reveal that more parents are worried about their child texting them than they are about the walki-talky.
Nearly three out of five parents surveyed said that children who text their parents “are more likely than others to be texting while they are in school.”
More than one-quarter of parents also said that if they knew their children were texting, they would “never” let them use the app.
And more parents were worried about how their children would respond to the walkers.
Of those surveyed who answered the question if they would let their child use the call, 41 percent said “no.”
And more than a third of parents polled said that texting while in school was a problem for their child.
“It seems like we’re on the verge of a social media revolution in children’s education,” said Michael Lohman, CEO of The Walky Talk Network.
“But the fact is that we still have a long way to go before we are anywhere near a world in which children have complete freedom to be able to communicate with their parents as they see fit.”
Parents should be wary of the walkys, Lohmen said, adding that “kids should not be allowed to walk around school on their own, at school, at the park, at their own homes.”