I encountered a reference to the 2007 Kaiser report “Parents, Children and Media” in reading I was doing and investigated. Kaiser has been sponsoring annual studies of media for several years and the organizations funding allows them to secure a large sample size. I keep taps on the statistical data they make available.
The content in this report I found most useful described parental strategies for assuring their children use the Internet safely. It has been my opinion that school measures are too severe and home measures are too lax. The data from some 1000+ parents reported here imply parents are reasonably aware of Internet dangers.
A few sample statistics (children 9 and older):
13% of children have a computer in their bedroom (not as high as I would have expected – 78% have access)
76% of parents sometimes check on the web sites their children (not details examine histories?)
41% filter
61% have read child’s email
87% have checked child’s buddy list
82% have looked a child’s social network profile (38% of children have a social network site)
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