"More and more teenagers are hiding their online activity from their parents,
according to a U.S. survey of teen internet behavior released on Monday. The
survey, sponsored by the online security company McAfee, found that 70 percent
of teens had hidden their online behavior from their parents in 2012, up from 45
percent of teens in 2010, when McAfee conducted the same survey. McAfee
spokesman Robert Siciliano cited the explosion of social media and the wider
availability of ad-supported pornography as two factors that have led teens to
hide their online habits. The increased popularity of phones with Internet
capabilities also means that teens have more opportunities to hide their online
habits, he said. The survey found that 43 percent of teens have accessed
simulated violence online, 36 percent have read about sex online, and 32 percent
went online to see nude photos or pornography. The survey reported that teens
use a variety of tactics to avoid being monitored by their parents. Over half of
teens surveyed said that they had cleared their browser history, while 46
percent had closed or minimized browser windows when a parent walked into the
room. Other strategies for keeping online habits from parents included hiding or
deleting instant messages or videos and using a computer they knew their parents
wouldn't check. Meanwhile, the survey found that 73.5 percent of parents trust
their teens not to access age-inappropriate content online. Nearly one quarter
of the surveyed parents (23 percent) reported that they are not monitoring their
children's online behaviors because they are overwhelmed by technology" (
Reuters).
