These findings are taken from Canada’s Children In A Wired World: The Parents‘ View, a survey conducted by Environics Research Group for the Media Awareness Network. The survey was funded by Industry Canada, in partnership with Health Canada and Human Resources Development Canada.
Canada's Children In A Wired World: The Parents' View examines the use of the Internet in families. The study looks at parents' perceptions of the Internet and their awareness of the benefits and risks associated with it. It gauges parents' attitudes towards the management of Internet content, and reveals their opinions about who should be responsible for managing Internet content.
The margin of error for a sample of this size is +/- 3.0 percentage points.
Canadian parents are active Internet users, and so are their children
- Of the Canadian families surveyed, 82% say they have used the Internet, and 73% report they have Internet access in the home
- Those with access in the home say that 86% of their children use the Internet
- According to parents, their children use the Internet for a wide range of activities: 65% use it for schoolwork; 31% search out information; 29% play games; 28% use instant messaging; 28% spend time in chat rooms; 18% use email actively; and 15% have met new friends on the Internet
- Parents say they use the Internet for a wide range of activities: 50% say they use the Internet for research; 32% for browsing online; 32% say they use the Internet for email; 26% for work related activity; 9% say they read newspapers online
- 51% of parents say they use the Internet at home every day
Parents rate Internet benefits, problems
- 66% of parents say education is the biggest benefit of their children being on the Internet
- 51% say their biggest concern with their children being on the Internet is inappropriate content
Parents' perspectives on Internet content
- 80% of parents say they think the Internet is the way of the future, and that if they and their family are not online, they will be left behind
- 19% think the Internet is more trouble than it's worth
- 55% think they have to take primary responsibility for the content that their children encounter online
- 44% think others outside the home should take responsibility for the content that their children encounter online
Parents report they are involved with their children's Internet use
- 35% of parents say they know "a great deal" about the Web sites their kids visit; another 36% say they know "a fair bit"
- 38% say they talk "a great deal" to their children about using the Internet; another 40% report that they talk to their children "a fair bit" about it
- 75% say the family computer is located in a common area of the home
- 70% have set rules for their children's Internet use
- 67% say they check the bookmarks or browser history to see where their children go online
- 61% think their children usually do online searches with an adult
- 53% say they provide a "great deal" of supervision for their children's Internet use in the home (compared to 41% for television viewing and 27% for computer games)
- 17% use blocking software and 16% use filtering software on the home computer
Parents' views are mixed about their children's Internet use
- 61% of parents think their children would know what to do if they found themselves in an uncomfortable situation online; 39% are not so sure
- 55% think their children always ask permission before submitting information to Web sites
- 46% think their children have learned to protect their privacy online; 50% are not so sure
- 44% think their children have learned to judge if online information is reliable and truthful; 52% are not so sure
- 21% of children have come across sexually explicit material (that their parents are aware of)
- 6% of children have been sent unsolicited sexual material (that their parents are aware of)
- 4% of children have met someone in person whom they first met on the Internet (that their parents are aware of)
Parents want a collaborative approach to managing Internet content for their children
- 65% of parents say educating children at school to use the Internet wisely is "very effective" (29% said it would be "somewhat effective")
- 54% think educating parents about the Internet would be "very effective" (37% said "somewhat effective")
- 86% say it's "very important" that schools play an active role in making the Internet safe for children using school computers (11% think this is "somewhat important")
- 72% say it's "very important" that public libraries play an active role in making the Internet safe for children using library computers (21% think this is "somewhat important")
- 52% think setting up a tip line or "hot line" to report illegal content to the police would be "very effective" (36% think it would be "somewhat effective")
- 52% think using an Internet service provider (ISP) that provides access only to content suitable for families would be a "very effective" measure (35% call it "somewhat effective")
- 47% think a code of conduct with which ISPs must comply would be "very effective" (40% think this would be "somewhat effective")
- 40% think a content rating system for Web sites developed by the Internet industry, similar to the ones used for movies and videos, would be "very effective" (41% think this would be "somewhat effective")
Parents say managing Internet content for children should be a shared responsibility
- 36% of parents think ISPs have a responsibility for managing content on the Internet
- 34% think Internet users themselves should be responsible for managing content on the Internet
- 32% think government has a responsibility for managing content on the Internet
- 23% think Web site producers have a responsibility for managing content on the Internet
- 5% think content should not be managed or supervised
Parents rate solutions for safe and wise Internet use in schools
- 75% of parents think that using blocking software on school computers would be "very effective"
- 75% think supervising students' school Internet use would be "very effective"
- 65% think teaching children to use the Internet wisely would be "very effective"
- 61% think putting school Internet workstations in public areas would be "very effective"
- 54% think instituting Internet Acceptable Use Policies would be a "very effective" measure
- 42% think posting signs indicating Internet use rules in school would be "very effective"
Parents rate solutions for safe and wise Internet use in public libraries
- 78% of parents think that using blocking software on library computers would be "very effective"
- 70% think supervising children's library Internet use would be "very effective"
- 54% think teaching children in public libraries to use the Internet wisely would be "very effective"
- 54% think putting the library Internet workstations in public areas would be "very effective"
- 52% think that an education program on wise Internet use for library patrons would be "very effective"
- 43% think instituting Internet Acceptable Use Policies in libraries would be a "very effective" measure
- 40% think posting signs indicating Internet use rules in school would be "very effective"
