Do you feel your kids spend too much time on the Internet? If you do, you’re not alone. According to a study released Wednesday, one in five American parents feel their kids spend too much time online. But the good news is most feel online activities have not negatively affected their kids grades.
The survey was conducted by the University of Southern California and found that 21 % of adult Internet users with kids believe their kids are online too long, compared to 11% in 2000. Here are some other findings from the study:
80% of the parents reported that their kids grades had not gone up or down with their child’s Internet use.
47% of the adults said they had withheld Internet use as a form of punishment.
The researchers have conducted this study most years since 2000 and have seen Internet use grow from 67% to 78%. Access at home has increased from 47% to 68%.
Only 22% of Americans don’t use the Internet and of those who are not online, lack of a working computer is to blame. Dissatisfaction with the Internet is almost never a reason why individuals are not online.
Americans 66 and older remain the most disconnected. For all other age groups at least 74% are online with the largest concentration (99%) being those who are 18 and under.
Users spend on average 14 hours a week online. In 2000, they spent 9.4 hours.
37% of homes have dial-up access, 26% have high-speed cable modems and 24% use DSL. 11% use mobile devices but not exclusively.
36% of users say they spend less time watching TV since they started using the Internet.
Nearly a quarter of online users report that they spend less time reading.
The survey was conducted by telephone from February to April with 2,269 U.S. households. The study also included follow-up interviews with respondents from the previous studies.
See also:
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Teaching Teenagers About the Dangers of Internet Predators