Internet & Teens Studies: Consider the Sources

One study says a small percentage of teens are approached by strangers online. Another says a majority of kids have been approached by strangers. What can you believe? It's a good question.

I am as concerned as any parent about my kids' safety on the web, but I cast a skeptical eye on studies that say a majority of teens are approached by strangers with inappropriate messages or are being bullied at the same rate. Both happen; I just think we should look closely at the studies that say these are frequent happenings on the web. And the same goes for studies that may underplay perils.

I always look at the source of the studies and see who is backing them before weighing the overall veracity of the results. Let's look at two recent studies—one by the National School Boards Association, and the other by Webroot, the anti-spyware software maker, which found that:

• 43 percent of teens who use social networking sites report they have been contacted online by "complete strangers." (Are these friends of friends? Are these no one's friends?)

• 37 percent of children ages 11 to 17 say they have received sexually explicit email OR pop-up advertisement within the past year.

• In homes where kids under the age of 18 use the Internet, there was a 28 percent greater incidence of spyware infections in the past six months. While I'm sure Webroot would like to be the solution to most families' spyware problems, Elaine Schoch, a Webroot spokeswoman, notes that this finding comes from a third-party study, the Consumer Reports State of the Net Survey.

Meanwhile, the National School Boards Association released a study that seems to refute other studies that place so many kids in imminent danger on the web. The link to the full study is below, but among the findings are that 60 percent of kids are addressing homework and other school-related topics online with friends, and that teens are spending almost as much time online (9 hours a week) as they do watching television (10 hours a week.)

Most interesting are these numbers, which are in sharp contrast to other studies:

• One in 30 students (3 percent) say unwelcome strangers have tried to repeatedly communicate with them online.

• One in 50 students (2 percent) say a stranger they met online tried to meet them in person.

• Less than 1 percent (.08 percent) say they have met someone in person after meeting them online, without their parents' permission.

Who supported this study? News Corp., owner of MySpace, Microsoft, and Verizon, though the school boards association says the study "does not necessarily represent the views of the underwriters."

I'm not saying the responses are purposely skewed in favor of the underwriting organizations, but it does beg a closer look to see how those questions are worded and how the sampling audience is chosen. The upshot? Use these and other studies as a guide but not the final, true word on teens on the Internet. Let them help you talk to your kids about what they are experiencing on the web, but don't pretend they—or you—hold all the answers.

LINKS: Creating & Connecting: Research & Guidelines on Online Social—and Educational—Networking [National School Boards Association study (pdf)]

State of Internet Security [Webroot study (pdf)]