Children need net-savvy parents: report

29-04-2005

by Charlie Taylor

Parents who remain baffled by the internet may be potentially harming their children's education and job prospects.

That's according to a new UK study carried out by academics at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). The research project, which was carried out by Professor Sonia Livingstone and Dr Magdalena Bober over a two year period, surveyed 1,511 young people from the ages of nine to 19. It also sent a written questionnaire to 906 parents.

The findings indicate that that many parents lacked the skills to guide and support their children's internet use and because of this they could be placing them on the wrong side of a digital divide It also reveals that internet-literate parents usually have internet-literate children.

Kids who are daily and weekly internet users have parents who also use the internet regularly and are more expert than occasional users. Moreover, such children were typically from middle-class backgrounds and had internet access at home.

However, the report notes that a group it terms "disengaged youth" are the least likely to engage with the net, least likely to have access at home and are less expert internet users. These young people are at risk of missing out on the many opportunities the internet has to offer.

Greater online skills are associated with the take up of a wide range of online opportunities for children and young people, and according to the report authors, a divide is growing not just of access but also centred on the quality of use. For some, the internet is a rich, stimulating resource, for others, a narrow, unengaging medium.

"Now that many young people rely on the internet for information, homework help and careers guidance, the more it matters that some of them are getting left behind," said Professor Sonia Livingstone, professor of social psychology in LSE's media and communication department. "Not knowing how to best use the internet may have a negative impact on their education and employment opportunities."

Of the parents surveyed, 18 percent said they don't know how to help their children use the internet safely. Many recognised their own responsibility, with 67 percent wanting better advice for parents, but 75 percent also wanted teaching guidance in schools. A total of 85 percent of parents wanted to see tougher regulation of online pornography.

The report's authors suggest that fearful parents may take too rigorous an approach to restricting online access completely and thereby leave their children less aware of online risks, such as chat room dangers, when they do use the internet.

The study notes that one way parents can improve their awareness of the online risks faced by their children is by increasing supportive activities, such as going online together. However, it says that this needs to be balanced with respect for their children's privacy, an approach that, according to the report, improves trust and ensures safety issues are more likely to be discussed in future.