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'Digital Divide' Found Between Teens and Parents

TMCnet Feature

November 06, 2013

'Digital Divide' Found Between Teens and Parents

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By Michelle Amodio
TMCnet Contributor

Growing up in a tech-heavy landscape means that there is an invisible veil between teens and their parents – or at least, that’s what a new study from the folks over at McAfee (News - Alert) have found.


In conjunction with the national availability of its Online Safety for Kids program in Ireland, the security company polled families in Ireland and found that 20 percent of Irish teenagers have access some sort of unsuitable content that they considered disturbing, and often, parents are unaware.

The study, “The Digital Divide,” says that 24 percent of parents live under the assumption that their teen tells them everything they do on the Internet, and that the majority of teens are taking a number of steps to hide their online behavior.

“We believe the findings from this study will come as quite a shock to some parents, and we hope it will encourage them to take immediate action to protect their children,” said Paul Walsh, vice president of engineering, EMEA, at McAfee. “It is clear that a huge gap exists between what teens are doing online, and what parents are aware of. Parents must take an active role to ensure their teens are practicing safe online behavior.”

Some more of the harrowing findings include:

  • More than 11 percent said they had actually met up with someone they met online
  • 23 percent of teens admitted intentionally searching for pornography, 26 percent have looked up sexual topics online and 56 percent have viewed a video they know their parents wouldn’t approve of
  • 33 percent of teens have looked up answers to a test/assignment online

“Having grown up in the online world, teens are often more online savvy than their parents, making it difficult for parents to provide the necessary guidance, and therefore, reinforcing teens’ online vulnerability,” said Walsh. “But parents cannot give up – they must challenge themselves to become familiar with the complexities of the online universe and educate themselves about the various threats that await their teens online.”

This proves that parents need to educate themselves and become comfortable with the Internet. Parents should communicate the dangers and risks of being online with their children. There should be supervised use of the Internet as well.

Teens should not spend long hours online alone. Security products can help parents track their child's use of the Internet and block objectionable material from reaching the household.




Edited by Alisen Downey


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