Saturday, May 5, 2001

Online and Offline Safety Poll

American parents are very concerned about time spent by teens in online chat rooms according to findings from a Harris Interactive survey released today by the Safe America Foundation and its Cyber Safety partner Excite@Home, a leader in broadband.

The survey, "Safety: Online and Offline" was commissioned to explore personal and family online safety concerns as well as concerns for teen driving and traveling internationally.

"The Foundation and our corporate partners have developed family safety programs for eight years running. We are now embarking on original research to suggest the trends and changes in online safety that will impact family safety over the next several years," said Len Pagano, president of the Safe America Foundation.

The survey was conducted as a web-based poll by Harris Interactive and respondents are active Internet users. Among the study’s findings are the following:

Safety Overall
Parents of teens have a larger concern about their children’s safety than the teens themselves, whether it is at home, traveling, driving or on the Internet.

- In overall safety, 68 percent of parents worry often or very often about their teens’ safety. Only 22 percent of teens surveyed worry this frequently about their own safety.

- Parents want more information about safety: 83 percent about teen driving, 75 percent about online safety.

Safety and Driving
Both parents of teens and teens are most likely to be concerned for safety when teens are in the car.

- 75 percent of teens and 98 percent of parents think that a person should be at least 16 years old to get a driver’s license.

- More than half of online teen drivers (55 percent) have talked on a cell phone while driving, and five percent say they often use a cell phone while driving.

- 74 percent of teens who have talked on a cell phone while driving have never used a hands-free device.

- A majority of parents (97 percent) as well as a majority of teens (85 percent) believe that everyone should take driver education or a defensive driving course before obtaining a driver’s license.

Safety and the Internet
While many experts suggest that parents monitor their child’s Internet use, setting clear rules and installing filtering software, less than half (46%) of online teens with home access surf the web in a family room or den and only few parents have installed filters. Teens and parents are divided on filtering.

Some 67 percent of parents are concerned about their teens’ safety while they are in online chat rooms while 54 percent have concerns about their teens’ surfing the web. In contrast, only 27 percent of online teens are concerned about their own safety when in chat rooms and 19 percent when surfing the web.

- Nearly one fourth (24 percent) of teens surveyed on-line have had a stranger try to arrange an in-person meeting with them off-line.

- 83 percent of parents believe that it is extremely important or very important for parents to establish rules for their teens on Internet use. Only 21 percent of online teens feel the same way.

- Only 11 percent of online parents whose teens use the Internet at home have installed software to monitor and record teens’ online activity and only

- 16 percent report installing blocking software.

- 78 percent of online parents think that blocking or filtering software should be installed in public libraries. Only 59 percent of online teens agree.

Safety and Travel
Travel abroad raises safety concerns among both parents and teens. Half of online teens have traveled abroad and 30 percent have traveled outside the United States more than once.

- Some 75 percent of online parents whose teens have traveled outside the U.S. are at least somewhat concerned about their teens. Only 54 percent of online teens who have traveled abroad are concerned for their own safety when traveling abroad.

- Parents concerned about their safety when traveling abroad worry most about robbery (25 percent), getting sick (24 percent), and terrorism (20 percent).

The findings clearly identify what worries families most when it comes to surfing the Internet and it provides an initial roadmap to help develop safety programs for families and communities

"The information from this study, helps companies like Excite@Home better determine how best to empower parents and families with the tools necessary to create a safer environment for their children." said Byron Smith, the Foundation’s chairman and Excite@Home’s chief marketing officer and executive vice president for consumer broadband services. "We’re thrilled to partner with a well-respected organization such as Safe America to try to meet these goals."