Parents In The Dark

A recent Symantec study, the Norton Online Living Report, fielded by Harris Interactive, reports how kids and adults are spending their time online, do they talk to strangers, treat online friends different than offline friends, look for a date, pay a bill, play a game, or compare to the rest of the world? Of thousands of children and adults, Internet users in the U.S., UK, Australia, Germany, France, Brazil, China and Japan, 52% around the world report having made friends online, suggesting that "don't talk to strangers" doesn't apply when in online worlds. In addition, 46% of users who made friends online said they enjoyed those relationships as much or more than friendships made offline. Other online activities ranking high around the world are dating (23%), using social networking sites (50%), and playing games (72%). The study found that parents in the U.S. think their kids are online two hours a month, but in reality, kids report spending 20 hours a month online. And, 41% of U.S. teens ages 13-17 years old agree that their parent have no idea what they are looking at online.
http://blogs.mediapost.com/research_brief/?p=1726