Poll: Monitoring Kids Online
Results Of A CBS News Poll
HOW MUCH DO PARENTS KNOW?
Parental online access is important in helping parents monitor and understand their children's online activities, as the ability to use the Internet themselves greatly enhances parents' grasp of their children's Internet behavior.
Sixty-one percent of parents who access the Internet say they are very knowledgeable about what their children do online, compared to 30 percent of those parents who do not access the Internet themselves but whose children do.
Four in ten parents who don't use the Internet say they are NOT knowledgeable about what their children do online.
HOW KNOWLEDGEABLE ARE PARENTS ABOUT CHILD'S ONLINE ACTIVITIES?
| PARENTS ONLINE | PARENTS NOT ONLINE | |
| | | |
| Very | 61% | 30% |
| Somewhat | 29 | 24 |
| Not very/not at all | 9 | 40 |
The need for parents to monitor their children's Internet activities is clear, as 73 percent of parents whose children go online think that most children today have visted web sites their parents might not approve of, such as web sites that are pornographic, violent or sponsored by hate groups. However, fewer parents -- 18 percent -- think their own children are accessing inappropriate material.
MONITORING CHILDREN'S INTERNET USE
Can parents monitor what their kids do online? Parents whose children go online certainly think so. Two-thirds of parents of children age 8 to 18 whose children use the Internet say it IS possible for parents to know what their children are doing online most of the time, and 31 percent say it is not possible. Parents who have no online access themselves are less likely to think it is possible to know what kids are doing online.
CAN PARENTS MONITOR CHILD'S INTERNET USE?
| PARENTS OF KIDS ONLINE | |
| | |
| POSSIBLE | 66% |
| NOT POSSIBLE | 31 |
Parents in general tend to be more likely to have Internet access than the general public, and in most households in which the child is using the Internet, parents are also online. Sixty-nine percent of parents whose child uses the Internet say they also use the Internet, and 31 percent do not.
This hands-on approach is important, since the public thinks the best way for parents to prevent their children from doing things online that their parents would disapprove of is to supervise and be with their children when they use the Internet, cited by 37 percent of the public. Parents whose children access the Internet concur: 39 percent say the best way to monitor a child's online activities is for parents to directly supervise their children.
There are other means of ensuring their children are not exposed to what parents would consider inappropriate material on the Internet. Software that blocks access to certain web sites is mentioned by 24 percent of the public as a good way to protect children who go online.
HOW PARENTS CAN MONITOR CHILREN
| TOTAL PUBLIC | ONLINE PARENTS | PARENTS NOT ONLINE | PARENTS OF KIDS ONLINE | |
| | | | | |
| Be with child | 37% | 41% | 34% | 39% |
| Install software | 24 | 25 | 28 | 27 |
| Set rules | 8 | 12 | 8 | 8 |
| Talk to them | 6 | 7 | 1 | 6 |
Fifty-two percent of parents whose children go online say they HAVE taken steps to control their child's access to the Internet. Most commonly, these parents supervise their children when they go online.
Twenty-eight percent of parents say they are with their child all of the time when he or she goes online, and 39 percent are with their child most of the time.
However, the degree to which parents directly supervise their child's Internet activities depends on the age of the child. Parents are much more likely to provide constant direct supervision to younger children than to older children. One in four parents have installed software that prevents their children from accessing inappropriate web sites.
THE GOVERNMENT'S ROLE
This poll shows some support for the federal government playing a role in protecting children from inappropriate material on the Internet. Parents of children 8 to 18 who use the Internet are about evenly divided as to whether they favor or oppose the federal government regulating the types of things that can be put on the Internet, with 49 percent in favor and 45 percent opposed. By 56 percent to 36 percent, those parents whose children do NOT use the Internet are more supportive of this measure.
PARENTS' VIEWS OF GOVERNMENT REGULATION
| FAVOR | OPPOSE | |
| | | |
| OWN CHILDREN USE INTERNET | 49% | 45 |
| OWN CHILDREN DO NOT USE INTERNET | 56% | 36 |
IS THE INTERNET WORTH IT?
The majority of Americans think that the benefits of the Internet outweigh the potential harm for children who use it, and only one quarter think the potential harm outweighs the benefits.
Personal access to the Internet directly affects parents' views of this debate.
According to parents with online access themselves (who see first hand both the positive and negative aspects of using the Internet), the benefits for children outweigh the potential harm.
Parents who don't access the Internet themselves are divided in their view of the Internet, with over four in ten saying the Internet harms children and an equal number saying it benefits them.
VIEW OF INTERNET FOR CHILDREN
| TOTAL PUBLIC | ONLINE PARENTS | PARENTS NOT ONLINE | |
| | | | |
| Benefits outweigh potential harm | 59% | 78% | 42% |
| Potential harm outweighs benefits | 28 | 15 | 40 |
Overall, access to the Internet has little perceived impact on child-rearing, as about half of Americans think having Internet access makes raising kids no more difficult or easy. Howver, 24 percent think having access to the Internet makes it harder to raise children, and one in ten think the Internet makes raising children easier. Parents whose children are online share this view: 59 percent think Internet access makes no difference, 24 percent think it makes raising children more difficult, and 13 percent think it makes child-rearing easier.
INTERNET MAKES RAISING KIDS...
| TOTAL PUBLIC | PARENTS OF KIDS ONLINE | |
| | | |
| EASIER | 11% | 13% |
| HARDER | 24 | 24 |
| NEITHER | 52 | 59 |
Forty-four percent of parents report that their children use the Internet about equally for school and fun; 31 percent say their child uses it mostly for school and 22 percent mostly for fun. Most children have started using the Internet in the past one to five years; this depends on the age of the child.
This poll was conducted among a nationwide random sample of 1,165 adults, interviewed by telephone August 1 - 3, 1999. The error due to sampling could be plus or minus three percentage points based on the entire sample. The sampling error for subgroups is higher. For full question wording and poll findings, please contact the CBS Election and Survey Unit at 212-975-5554.
