News for the Week of August 20, 2006
Research into the online life of teens continues is beginning to emerge. Last week was the milestone study at the University of New Hampshire, this week some insights into the parenting of online teens. For example, some parents might be surprised about the finding that more than 70% of teens say they'd feel comfortable having their parents look at their MySpace page (see No. 2 below)...
'The Entertainment Life of 12-to-24-Year-Olds'
A just-released Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg study found it's simply not true that kids "run rampant on the Internet" unsupervised by clueless parents. Among its findings:
- Only 26% of teen computer users "work and surf unsupervised, the survey found.
- Among those who reported restrictions nearly two-thirds said they lived with a ban on downloading music, movies and/or mature content"; nearly 60% can't surf or IM while doing homework; more than 80% aren't allowed to visit social-networking sites "and/or were not allowed to IM with certain people"; 45% have time limits on their computer use and "a similar proportion said they could use the computer only under supervision or in a shared family location."
- 31% of 12-to-17-year-olds say "their parents check their social-networking sites...and what is put on personal sites."
As for teen social networking overall, you might find this figure surprisingly low, given all the media coverage: The survey found that 29% maintain a MySpace profile; 46% said "yes" to "I go on MySpace or other social-networking sites" (54% said "no").
The L.A. Times's 5-part series based on this research is "Tracking the MySpace Generation."
Parents, 'Create Your Own MySpace Page'
That's the word from California State University psychology professor Larry Rosen following his study, "Adolescents in MySpace: Identity Formation, Friendship and Sexual Predators" . It's the next step for parents in the process of getting as engaged in their kids' online social lives as they are in their offline socializing. Dr. Rosen's research found that 38% had never done so (nor had they talked with their children about their MySpace use), 14% said they almost never checked it, and 16% stated they only glanced at it every few months. "Only one-third of the parents actually checked their teen's MySpace page on a regular basis." And yet over two-thirds of the teens surveyed said they're comfortable with having their parents see their profiles.
The study found that the 17% of parents who had created their own MySpace page...
- Were more likely to have seen their child's MySpace profile.
- Were more likely to have seen the photos on the profile.
- Looked at their child's page often.
- Were more likely to be sure of how much time their child spent on MySpace.
- Were less concerned about sexual predators on MySpace.
- Knew whether their child had given out personal information.
- "Were more likely to feel that sexual predators were rare on MySpace."
"Although the sample in this study is small and was not collected randomly," Professor Rosen writes (the sample was 267 pairs of parents and teens in the Los Angeles area found by his students at Cal State), "the results are clear: Parents who had a MySpace presence were more actively involved in their teen's MySpace activity and had a more realistic view about their teen's MySpace usage."
In other news...
- Pedophiles' 'alternate realities' On the Net, they don't just swap pictures, they participate in "support groups," promote their interests, seek jobs near kids, and chat about their experiences, the New York Times reports on its front page today following a four-month investigation. Times reporter Kurt Eichenwald wasn't investigating specific cases so much as the group itself, and how it uses the Net to extend its reach.
- Cyberbullying laws coming? One in three 12-to-17-year-olds have been victims of cyberbullying, a recent survey found, and the anti-crime group that commissioned it wants something done about it, CNET reports . The organization, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, also found that one in six 6-to-11-year-olds have been cyberbullied; 10% of teens and 4% of preteens said they'd been threatened with physical harm online; and 50% of the teens and 30% of the preteens surveyed never told their parents about the cyberbullying. Fight Crime is passage of a bill introduced last February by Rep. John Shimkus, an Illinois Republican, that would provide funding for bullying and harassment prevention programs in schools.
- Schools' own social sites. Move over, Facebook. Many universities are developing their own networking sites, at least for incoming freshmen, USATODAY reports . They vary in functionality - some trying to replace Facebook, others just adding stuff specific to the particular school - but the goals seem to be the same: promote the school's programs and ease the transition into campus life. Increasing numbers of students are using these along with MySpace, Facebook, Xanga, and other "generic" ones, since they have to keep in touch with friends back home too, of course.
- Back-to-school tech. USATODAY looks at how colleges are "preparing for the onslaught of [gadget-wielding] students who don't know what life was like before chips, bytes and dot-coms." And for students of all levels (and their parents), there's the perennial coverage of gadgets and wearable technology "invading a school hallway near you," as the Washington Post put it, and the New York Times's article includes grade-school-level tech too.
