Poll: Kids And The Internet

The American public thinks it is necessary for parents today to be able to keep up with their children when it comes to accessing the Internet. In fact, by a wide margin the public thinks it is more important for parents to be Internet-savvy than it is for their children. However, the public thinks that most parents are NOT able to match their children's knowledge of the Internet.

ARE PARENTS KEEPING UP WITH THEIR KIDS?

The general perception among the American public is that parents know LESS about using the Internet than their children. Two thirds think parents today know less than their kids, and only one-fourth think that parents know as much or more than their children. This view holds true among parents regardless of whether they or their children access the Internet.

HOW MUCH DO PARENTS KNOW ABOUT THE INTERNET?

When asked specifically about their knowledge of the Internet compared to that of their online children, parents who use the Internet rate themselves as fairly adept. Sixty-six percent of parents who are online themselves say their knowledge of the Internet is equal to or surpasses that of their children, and one third say they have less knowedge about the Internet than their children do.

However, parents who DON'T use the Internet (41 percent of all parents of children under 18) see themselves as clearly less competent than their children in this regard. Two-thirds say they know LESS than their children about the Internet, and 28 percent say they know as much or more than their kids do.

PARENTS: HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW COMPARED TO YOUR KIDS?

But knowing less than their children do about the Internet doesn't seem to worry parents, since 69 percent of parents who say their children know more about the Internet than they do are comfortable with that situation, and only 28 percent are bothered by it.

About one third of parents who have online access rate themselves beginners at using the Internet. Very few -- only 14 percent -- say they are experts, and half call themselves intermediates. Parents of children age 8 to 18 view their child's online expertise as not much different from their own. Thirty-seven percent of these parents rate their children as beginners, and 13 percent say their kids are experts at navigating the Internet. Forty-five percent say their kids are intermediate.

HOW ADEPT ARE YOU? ONLINE PARENTS RATE...

MORE IMPORTANT FOR PARENTS

While nearly half of the general public thinks it is extremely or very important for school-age children to have access to the Internet, a far greater number -- 80 percent -- think it is important for the PARENTS of children who use the Internet to be familiar with it.

IMPORTANT TO KNOW HOW TO USE THE INTERNET

Furthermore, the emphasis on parental Internet ability is pervasive across all groups of adults, regardless of their own or their children's use of the Internet. By 82 percent to 54 percent, parents who are online themselves are more likely to think it is important for parents to have facility with the Internet than it is for children to.

The data is similar among parents of children who are online -- 80 percent tink it is important for parents to know how to use the Internet, and 55 percent think it is important for children to.

Parents with no online access themselves are less likely than other groups to think Internet access is important for children today -- 40 percent express this view -- but 74 percent see parental use of the Internet as important.