internet concerns
do you know what
your teens are doing
online?
A new study cal led “The Digital
Divide: How the Online Behavior
of Teens is Getting Past Parents”
(conducted by Tru Research and commissioned
by McAfee) shows an alarming 70% of teens
have hidden their online behavior from their
parents, up from 45% in 2010. And yet half of
parents live under the assumption that their
teen tells them everything he/she does online.
It’s perfectly normal for teens to be less than
forthcoming during these years when their
hormones are raging, and teen angst boggles
their brain and body. However, the Internet
has drastically changed our culture and teens
today have access to an incredible amount of
information that they didn’t have, just a decade
ago.
This instant access to information and digital
devices is having an impact on our teens that
many of us as parents don’t realize. Some of the
revealing consequences are:
• Friendships – 20% of teens said they had ended a
friendship with someone because of something
that happened on a social network.
• Physical safety – 7% feared for their safety
because of something that happened online,
and 5% reported getting into a physical fight
because of a problem that started online. More
than 1 in 10 (12%) of teens have met someone
in real life that they only knew online.
• Criminal record – 15% said they have hacked
someone’s social networking account and 31%
have pirated music and movies.
• Cheating – 48% of teens admitted to looking
for test answers online, and 16% have used a
smartphone to do this.
• Innocence - 46% of teens report accidentally
accessing pornography online and 32% reported
accessing pornography intentionally.
And what about the parents? The study showed:
1 in 3 believes their teen to be much more techsavvy
then they are, leaving them feeling helpless
to keep up with their teen’s online behaviors.
• 22% of parents do not believe their kids can get
into trouble online.
• Less than 1 in 10 parents are aware their teens
are hacking accounts or downloading pirated
content.
• 78% of parents are not worried about their kids
cheating at school.
• Only 12% of parents thought their children
accessed pornography online.
Parents, you must stay in-the-know. Since your
teens have grown up in an online world, they
may be more online savvy than their parents, but
you can’t give up. You must challenge yourselves
to become familiar with the complexities of the
teen online universe and stay educated on the
various devices your teens are using to go online.
Article by Robert Siciliano
WomanToWomanMagazine.com 33
/WomanToWomanMagazine.com
