Many Parents Are Unaware of How Their Kids Act on Social Networks

As with any new popular technology there are inherent risks associated with the benefits. A new study underlines some of the risks involving social networking especially when it comes to teenagers. The survey published by Common Sense Media, a San Francisco advocacy group, shows that parents underestimate how much time their kids spend on social networks or what kind of behavior they engage in.

“In today’s digital environment, parents have less time to supervise their kids’ behavior,” James Steyer, CEO of Common Sense Media, said. “Communication and socialization in our kids’ world is increasingly moving from face-to-face to face-to-cyberspace, and parents vastly underestimate the amount of time that kids spend on their networks.”

“That makes it more challenging for parents to actually parent in the crucial areas of social interaction and development, and, in a digital world, parents need to play a more important role than ever in ensuring that our kids get the best of these technologies and are using them safely,” he added.

The study surveyed 1,013 teenagers and 1,002 parents and found that 51 percent of teens check their profiles more than once a day while only 23 percent of the parents believe this to be happening. As much as 22 percent of teenagers actually check social networking sites more than 10 times per day but only 4 percent of the parents believe so.

The younger users also engage in sometimes risky behavior, with 37 percent of them using social networks to make fun of others, yet only 18 percent of the parents believe their kids have done this. What's more, 13 percent of teens have posted a revealing photo or video of themselves or others online, with only 2 percent of the parents thinking this has happened. A further 28 percent have posted personal information that they wouldn't have otherwise revealed, but only 16 percent of the parents say their kids have done this.

While mostly one-sided, the study does show that 54 percent of teens have joined a Facebook or MySpace group supporting a cause and 34 percent have volunteered for a campaign or charity. As with all of these types of studies, it stands to reinforce the fact that parents are mostly unaware or what their kids are up to, a problem that greatly supersedes social networks and the entire Internet for that matter.