Safe Surfing Statistics

Approaching your child about safe Web surfing practices is more important than you may think. According to research compiled by NetLingo.com, 61 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds have a personal profile on social networking sites—and 44 percent of them have been contacted by a stranger. Compare that to teens without online profiles: Only 16 percent of them report ever being contacted by a stranger.

As a parent, what other statistics should prompt an Internet safety conversation between you and your child?

• 4 million children are posting content to the Web every day; 15 million youth use Instant Messaging.
• 76 percent of parents do not have rules about what their kids can do on the computer.
• 20 percent of children age 10 to 17 have been solicited sexually online. That’s one out of every five kids.
• 75 percent of youth who received an online sexual solicitation did not tell a parent.
• 65 percent of parents believe that kids do things online that they wouldn’t want their parents to know about.
• One out of 17 kids has been harassed, threatened or bullied online.
• Most kids will not report inappropriate Internet contact to their parents because they are afraid of losing Internet privileges, so you may never know what is really going on onscreen.
• 71 percent of children have reported receiving messages from someone they do not know.
• 45 percent have been asked for personal information from people they do not know.
• 48 percent of 16- to 17-year-olds report that their parents know “very little” or “nothing” about their online activities.

Source: Netlingo.com