“Policies that aim to protect children online talk about parents’ concerns, assuming parents are this one [uniform] group,” study co-author Eszter Hargittai, a professor in the department of communication studies at Northwestern University, said in a university news release. “When you take a close look at demographic backgrounds of parents, concerns are not uniform across population groups.”

The study, published recently in the journal Policy & Internet, also found that urban parents tended to be more concerned about online threats to their children than suburban or rural parents. In addition, college-educated parents had lower levels of fear than those with less education.

Among the other findings:

• Having a higher income was related to lower fears about children’s exposure to pornography, being bullied or being a bully.
• Parents with liberal political views were less concerned than moderates or conservatives about pornography. Liberal parents, however, were more concerned about their child becoming a bully.
• Parents of daughters and of younger children were more concerned than parents of sons about the threat of their children meeting a stranger or being exposed to violent content.
• Parents’ gender or religious beliefs have little effect on their levels of concern.

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The FBI offers parents a guide to Internet safety.

Most children’s internet use takes place away from the watchful eye of a parent and is still prone to cruel and abusive behaviors, according to McAfee and the Anti-Bullying Alliance. Worse still, research suggests that some parents may be unintentionally exposing their children to inappropriate behavior and cyber-bullying through lack of controls and by setting up children’s access to social networks.

Cyber-bullying behaviors are commonplace, with 16% having been the recipients of mean or cruel behavior online and 22% having witnessed the same behaviors directed at a classmate or friend.

Findings showed that children and teens are prolific users of the internet; with 26% spending between 4-6 hours or more online every day with much of that internet use taking place away from the watchful eye of a parent; 53% of children go online in their own room, 46% on a games console and 66% on a personal smartphone. In addition, nearly one in five (19%) of teens admit to lying to their parents about what they’’ve been doing online.

Click here to view original web page at www.net-security.org