Protecting Teens On The Web

Most parents of teenagers who go online say they set time limits on the kids' Internet activity. They also try to monitor it, in part by placing computers in common areas.

That's according to a new study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, which found that slightly more than half of parents with online teens - 54 percent - have filtering software installed on home computers, up from 41 percent in 2000.

Another of the survey's findings: 13 percent of American teens do not use the Internet at all.

Parents who are themselves online are more likely to set rules about when and for how long their kids can be online while at home. Overall, nearly two-thirds of parents with online teenagers say they have such rules.

Nearly three-fifths keep the computer in an open area, like the living room.

"You set rules about television watching, cleaning up after yourselves, doing the dishes," said Amanda Lenhart, a Pew research specialist and author of the study. "Doing it for online safety is an easy next step for parents to take."

Lenhart cautioned, however, that time limits can result from family members competing to use a single computer rather than an effort to restrict kids' usage.

She added that kids who have such rules at home are also more likely to access the Internet from school, possibly negating the impact of any rules.

Lenhart agrees that time limits and computer location won't replace the need to educate kids about Internet use and safety.

"Using software to filter out inappropriate websites is certainly one way to help keep kids from going astray. But parents need to realize that kids also have access to the Internet at friend's houses, in public places and even on cell phones," says CBS News Technology Analyst Larry Magid, founder of the Internet safety website SafeKids.com.

"It's a very good idea for parents to spend time talking to their children to review some basic online safety rules, especially not giving out any personal information over the Internet," he adds. "Looking at inappropriate web sites is only one aspect of Internet safety. What kids say in chat rooms, who they communicate with and what they post on web logs and other public Internet spaces can get them into far more serious trouble."

According to the Pew survey, mothers are more likely than fathers to install Internet filters. And younger parents and those who go online at least once a day are also more likely to use employ filters to try to prevent their children from viewing pornography and other material they deem objectionable.

Nearly two-thirds of parents of online teens say they check the sites their children visit - but only a third of teens who use the Internet at home believe their parents are really paying attention to where their children are surfing.

Any reasonably tech-savvy teen knows how to erase online footsteps.

One parent not connected to the study, William Draves of River Falls, Wisconsin, is skeptical about whether time limits or similar restrictions do much. He says they may even be counterproductive, so he sets no limits and uses no filtering software on his 18-year-old son, even letting him connect wirelessly from the roof when he wants.

"The Internet is going to be their life," he said. "This is how they are going to earn their living. This is how we communicate. This is the central feature of a middle-class lifestyle."

The Pew study is based on random telephone calls with 1,100 children 12 to 17 years old and their parents. They were conducted Oct. 26 to Nov. 28. The main findings have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The survey also finds that of the 13 percent of American teens who do not use the Internet, about half were once online but dropped out. They are most likely to blame lack of interest or access, followed by concern about safety. A small percentage say their parents no longer let them use the Internet.

Those who never had access are most likely to cite lack of interest or being busy, with lack of access ranking third.

Separately, Pew reported Thursday that the percentage of older Americans online continues to grow. A Jan. 13-Feb. 9 phone survey of 2,201 adults finds 26 percent of those age 65 and up with Internet access, an increase from 22 percent last March.

Older Americans embrace e-mail and research on the Web but shun "high trust" activities such as e-commerce, banking and online auctions. Pew expects the pattern to shift with the aging of baby boomers who are already familiar with those activities.