Parents’ fears about the Internet
Parents’ rules about the Internet
Parents and filtering software
Parents’ knowledge of children’s online activities
Parents’ inconsistencies
Parents’ Fears about the Internet
- 68.3 percent of parents said they were more concerned about their children’s exposure to harmful material on the Internet than television. 26.1 percent said they were equally concerned about both mediums, and 5.6 percent were more concerned about material on television.1
- 25 percent of parents worry “a lot,” 32 percent worry “some,” and 24 percent worry only “a little” that their teens will be contacted online by a stranger. 19 percent don’t worry about this at all.2
- 62 percent of parents express “a lot” or “some” concern about what their children might seek out or stumble across on the Internet.3
- Nearly half of parents (45 percent) say they believe “a lot” or “some” that the Internet can lead young people to do harmful or dangerous things, while 29 percent believe there is “only a little” harmful influence. 22 percent believe the Internet has no negative influence at all.4
- Percentage of parents who agreed “strongly” or “somewhat” with the following statements in 2000:
- 72 percent – “I am concerned my child/children might view sexually explicit images on the Internet.”
- 62 percent – “I am concerned my children might view violent images on the Internet.”
- 59 percent – “People worry too much that adults will take advantage of children on the Internet.”
- 51 percent – “The Internet is a safe place for my children to spend time.”
- 43 percent – “My children’s exposure to the Internet might interfere with the values and beliefs I want to teach them.”5
Parents’ rules about the Internet
- 92 percent of parents felt it was “extremely” or “very” important to establish rules for Internet use for their children (59 and 33 percent, respectively).6
- The percent of parents who say they…
- Have a family computer located in a public space in the home – 70 percent.
- Sit down with their teens at computer and surf together – 68 percent.
- Check on their teen’s activities after the child has been online – 61 percent.7
- Parents say they are careful about how their children use the Internet.
- 91.4 percent say they keep an eye on what their children do online.
- 66.7 percent say that children must ask permission to access the Internet.
- 62.1 percent say they limit the time children can spend online.8
- 74 percent of parents claim to have specific rules about what types of web sites teens are allowed to visit and 59 percent claim to have specific rules about whether teens are allowed to visit chat rooms.9
- 82 percent of parents claim to monitor their teens online “very closely” or “somewhat closely.”10
While a majority of parents indicate that they set rules for Internet use, talk to their children about appropriate online behaviors, and check to see what their children are doing while online, their teens have a very different impression of how frequently—if ever—this type of communication occurs. To learn more about these discrepancies, see Going Online: The Communication Gap.
Parents and filtering software
- 90 percent of parents are aware of blocking software, but only 25 percent claim that such software was installed at home.11 (A separate study concluded that as many as 41 percent of parents have installed filters or use ISP controls on the home computer,12 but most research places the number closer to one-third.13)
- Of those parents who do not use Internet filters, only 41 percent were interested in installing such software.14
- 46 percent of parents believe their teens would be “very” or “somewhat” likely to try to circumvent any blocking software that was installed, but only 29 percent of teens say they would even try.15
- 54 percent of parents believe that blocking software is “more effective” or “just as effective” (31 and 23 percent, respectively) as parents in preventing teens from accessing objectionable sites, compared to 80 percent of teens (45 and 35 percent, respectively) who think this way.16
- Of the parents claiming to use filtering software, 53 percent could not name it.17
Parents’ knowledge of children’s online activities
- 17 percent of parents believe their children are posting online profiles compared to 45 percent of children who report doing this.18
- 68 percent of parents believe their children have private e-mail accounts compared to 81 percent of children who report having them.19
- 32 percent of parents believe their children have corresponded with strangers compared to 52 percent of children who report doing this.20
- 67 percent of parents report that someone else is in the room when their children go online compared to 78 percent of children who say they go online alone.21
- Children admit they are often untrustworthy.
- 55 percent of children ages 12-15 say they do not tell their parents everything they do online.22
- 75 percent of girls surveyed by the Girl Scout Research Institute say their parents have rules for the Internet. 43 percent of those girls also admit to breaking them.23
- Almost all teenagers (96 percent) say they follow their parents’ rules about Internet usage at least some of the time but only 56 percent claim to follow the rules all of the time.24
- A study conducted by Digital Research Inc. found that 65 percent of parents were concerned about the amount of sexually explicit material online. Yet, 60 percent of parents felt they ‘always know what my children do online.’25
- Another study showed that 58 percent of parents feel “extremely” or “very” comfortable with their teens going online alone.26 Yet, only 16 percent of them feel that teens can be trusted to follow rules about Internet use all of the time.27
