Teens' Personal Info Sharing Online Not Widespread

Here's some reassurance that most kids are more guarded than we give them credit for online. A study published in the Journal of Adolescence finds that posting personal information is not as rampant as we've been led to believe in the early days of social networks.

Thanks to Anne Collier's nod on NetFamilyNews to the research by professors from the University of Wisconsin's Political Science department and Florida Atlantic University's Criminology & Criminal Justice department. Among their findings from research of info-sharing on MySpace:

•  8.8 percent of kids 17 and younger revealed full names;

•  57 percent included a photo;

•  27.8 percent listed their schools;

•  0.3 percent provided a phone number.

"When considered in its proper context, these results indicate that the problem of personal information disclosure on MySpace may not be as widespread as many assume, and that the overwhelming majority of adolescents are responsibly using the web site," the professors wrote in the report's abstract.

Welcome words to worried parents. At the least, it should help take parents' focus off pedophiles and predators and keep it on talking to kids about how they present themselves online and how they handle their online relationships.

Related: Parents: How Protective is Too Protective

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