Risk communication in the Internet Age: Parental challenges in monitoring the internet use of adolescents (original) (raw)

Parental Awareness and Monitoring of Adolescent Internet Use

Current Psychology, 2008

This study focused on four aspects of parental monitoring of Internet use by their children: parental supervision, communication and tracking, and adolescent disclosure. Data were obtained from a SAFT (Safety Awareness for Teens Project) national survey of Singapore youths and parents regarding Internet safety at home. Study 1 examined 1,124 adolescents and 1,002 parents; Study 2 examined a subsample of 169 dyads of adolescents and their parents. Frequency of use and engagement in risky Internet behaviors such as visiting inappropriate websites were analysed. The results indicated that parents tend to underestimate adolescents’ engagement in risky Internet behaviors and overestimate the amount of parental monitoring regarding Internet safety that occurs at home. The study suggested that mothers have a better awareness of their adolescents’ Internet use than fathers. The findings were explained in the context of parental monitoring. The results suggest that parental monitoring needs to be reconceptualized and that parents need to improve the communication with their adolescents regarding Internet use.

Parental Approaches to Enhancing Young Peopleʼs Online Safety

2012

Although there is evidence that young people are tech-savvy with the know-how to keep themselves safe online, this review has demonstrated that the technological generational gap remains large. There are divergent opinions over what constitutes online risks, dangers or threats to young people online. Online environments fostering anonymity, for example, can be perceived as both a risk and benefit to young people. Conversation between young people and adults regarding online safety is imperative to parents understanding cybersafety and young people staying safe online. It remains crucial that research is conducted to explore these questions with adults and young people.

The impact of becoming a parent about the perception of Internet risk behaviors

The object of this research is to learn about the perception held by the adults of the risk behaviors related to digital technologies and to compare their perception with that of the adolescents. Adults perceive Internet risks differently from adolescents. Being a father or a mother may modify this perception vis-á-vis their children. To do this, a quantitative and descriptive study was carried out. Based on a questionnaire, in which 1383 individuals participated: 259 adults and 1124 adolescents. The results confirm that: (a) the adults have a high perception of the seriousness of risk behaviors; (b) being a parent is a that increases this perception; and (c) there are significant differences in the perception of risks between adults and a part of the adolescents, who are mainly older boys. Among the conclusions, we would highlight the need to incorporate training processes for young people aimed at encouraging critical thinking around risk behaviors, in which both adolescents and adults participate together. This will mean that the perception of risk behaviors will increase in an efficacious way, as well as fostering a more responsible use of digital technologies by adolescents. gressive selling, and finally, contact risks are those related to cyberbullying, addiction to the Internet, grooming and sexting.

Son, are you on Facebook? The impact of parental involvement in school interventions about E-safety

2015

Media literacy interventions in secondary education typically have a limited impact on the participants’ behavior. Therefore, we developed a new e-safety intervention using a design-based research methodology. In the current study, it was verified whether involving parents actively in this intervention was helpful to decrease unsafe behavior on social network sites, or at least the intentions to behave unsafely. A quasi-experimental study with pre- and post-test measures in secondary education (n=207) showed that parental involvement was beneficial to change the intentions to engage in certain unsafe behavior, and to reduce existing problematic behavior, particularly for boys. These findings have important implications for research and practice, guiding us toward more effective e-safety interventions.

Parental Regulation of Internet Use: Issues of Control, Censorship and Cyberbullying

Mousaion: South African Journal of Information Studies

The attraction of the internet continues to grow, mobilising the attention of many users, and impressing especially adolescents globally. Whilst the internet has provided adolescents with many benefits, such as academic support; cross- cultural interactions; social support; and exposure to the world at large, there are serious risks associated with the internet. The parents’ role in this regard becomes pivotal in ensuring the safety of their children. The mechanisms used by parents in controlling their children’s use and access to the internet were the focus of this study. For this reason, the study aimed to determine the role parents play in regulating their adolescent children’s use of and access to the internet and how issues of control, censorship and cyberbullying are addressed. The study was based on Baumrind’s (in Grobman 2008) parenting styles which formed the theoretical framework. A quantitative approach was used to gauge the responses of parents who have adolescen...

Parental strategies for limiting youths’ exposure to online risks

Media Education, 2021

Given the new risks and opportunities generated by the use of the Internet since childhood, it seems necessary to deepen the parental mediation strategies with which parents can protect their children from exposure to online risks, perpetration of inappropriate behaviours online and psychosocial risks associated with a dysfunctional use of the web. This scoping review aims to analyse the literature of the last ten years on the strategies and attitudes of parents towards online risks. Twenty-nine scientific documents about parental mediation outcomes on children’s use of digital tools have been examined. Literature has been investigated in the PubMed, PsycINFO and Scopus databases. Only studies with a paediatric population published in the last ten years (from 2009) have been selected. The results suggest that empathy and interest are protective factors towards the exposure and perpetration of online risks of children, without limiting the opportunities offered by the Web.

Involving Parents in School Programs about Safety on Social Network Sites

Social network sites (SNS) such as Facebook offer a lot of opportunities, but teenagers are often not aware of the possible negative consequences of posting personal, sexual, or offensive information. Therefore, schools and parents have an important role in educating kids about the risks on SNS. In this quasi-experimental study, the impact of a school intervention with parental involvement on pupils' awareness, their attitudes, intentions and behaviour on SNS is measured. Quantitative and qualitative results give an answer to the two research questions that were put forth: (1) is an intervention involving parents effective to teach teenagers how to use SNS safely? And (2) is organizing an information evening an effective way to involve parents in school programs? Implications are discussed.

Parental Mediation of Children's Internet Use

Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 2008

This article examines parental regulation of children and teenagers' online activities. A national survey of 1511 children and 906 parents found that 12-17-year-olds encounter a range of online risks. Parents implement a range of strategies, favoring active co-use and interaction rules over technical restrictions using filters or monitoring software, but these were not necessarily effective in reducing risk. Parental restriction of online peer-to-peer interactions was associated with reduced risk but other mediation strategies, including the widely practiced active co-use, were not. These findings challenge researchers to identify effective strategies without impeding teenagers' freedom to interact with their peers online.

Parents and the internet: Privacy awareness, practices and control

AMCIS 2007 Proceedings, 2007

As children increasingly use the Internet, there have been mounting concerns about their privacy online. As a result, the U.S. Congress enacted the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) to prohibit websites from collecting information from children under 13 years of age without verifiable parental consent. Unfortunately, few technologies are available for parents to provide this consent. Further, few parents are aware of the laws and technologies available. This research explored parental awareness of laws and technologies associated with protecting children's privacy online, and usage of technologies and techniques for parental control, using focus group research. The results of the study are used to propose an emergent framework of factors that will impact use of privacy protection tools and techniques by parents.

Cyberaggression: The Effect Of Parental Monitoring On Bystander Roles

The digital world has created new opportunities for aggression through cyberaggression. Despite growing research interest in cyberaggression, little is known about the various bystander roles in the digital interaction. This paper examines the effect of parental monitoring practices (parental restriction, youth disclosure, and parental solicitation) on five bystander roles: aggressor-supporter, defender, help-seeker, outsider, and passive bystander. Data were derived from self-report questionnaires answered by a sample of 501 adolescents in Israel. The findings indicate that adolescents who share their experiences of cyberaggression with their parents are more likely than others to defend the cybervictim. Interaction effects were found between adolescent gender, installing warning applications, parent gender, and the aggressor-supporter role. Boys whose parents installed warning applications and whose fathers monitored their online activities were positively associated with the aggressor-supporter role, while girls who were higher aggressor-supporter reported that their parents used warning applications but did not monitor their online activities. The discussion focuses on the theoretical and practical implications of the effectiveness of parental monitoring on the cyber aggression bystander’s role.