Maybe three-quarters of their parents say they know where they are online, but a new study saying that also says many if not most are hitting objectionable Web sites, finding offensive music, sexual content, violence, and even hate sites.
Business Wire says the Yankelovich Partners survey showed, of those teens responding, 58 percent accessing "an" objectionable site, 39 percent finding objectionable or offensive music, 20 percent finding violent sites, and only 17 percent saying blocking software had kept them from finding these sites.
"This clearly shows a reality gap between what parents think their children are doing online and what material they are actually viewing," said Hal Quinley, senior partner of Yankelovich Partners, to Business Wire.. "While these figures don't point to a crisis, they verify that many teens are visiting websites containing violent, pornographic and other harmful content.
On the other hand, the survey also says respondents citing strict rules on Internet use at home and at school, with both the parents and teens surveyed saying overwhelmingly (94 and 87 percent, respectively) they favor using filtering software at school.
The filtering software firm Websence commissioned the Yankelovich survey, which was done by telephone between mid-July and mid-August.
