A little food for thought from www.cox.com/TakeCharge
May 23, 2005--A new survey commissioned by the
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children(R) (NCMEC) and Cox
Communications reveals that, while nearly half of the parents surveyed monitor
their children's online activity daily or weekly, the other half admit they
don't even know that such monitoring tools are available. The results are a
compelling backdrop for Internet Safety Month in June.
Other key findings:
-- Over half (51%) of parents either do not have
or do not know if they have software on their computer(s) that monitors where
their teenager(s) go online and with whom they interact.
-- 42% of parents do not review the content of
what their teenager(s) read and/or type in chat rooms or via instant messaging.
-- Teenagers who Instant Message use chat lingo
to communicate and parents don't know the meanings of some of the most commonly
used phrases. 57% don't know LOL (Laughing Out Loud), 68% don't know BRB (Be
Right Back), and 92% don't know A/S/L (Age/Sex/Location).
-- 95% of parents couldn't identify common chat
room lingo that teenagers use to warn people they're chatting with that their
parents are watching. Those phrases are POS (Parent Over Shoulder) and P911
(Parent Alert).
-- Nearly three out of 10 (28%) of parents don't
know or are not sure if their teens talk to strangers online.
-- 30% of parents allow their teenagers to use
the computer in private areas of the house such as a bedroom or a home office.
Parents say they are more vigilant about where their teen(s) go online if the
computer is in a public area of the household.
-- 58% of parents surveyed say they review the
content of what their teenager(s) read and/or type in chat rooms or via Instant
Messaging; 42% do not.
The internet can be a scary place, and those parts of it that are not right are something that I have struggled with repeatedly.
Fortunately, I am coming out of it. Praise God for that.
Posted by: Trogdor | August 21, 2005 at 06:04 PM