Safe Keeping Blog

At Yahoo!, we have always stressed the importance of educating and empowering our kids with tools to navigate the Web more safely. The results of the 2nd Annual Online Safety Survey by Yahoo! and Ipsos (an independent market research company) indicate a heightened awareness on the part of both parents and kids around the need for online safety education.

88% of parents said that they are talking to their children about online safety, up from 70% last year. The discussions are ongoing—of those who are talking to their children, 68% of them talk to their children once a month or more.

The survey also found that kids care more about online safety than their parents give them credit for. We hear so much about how teenagers are wired to make poor choices in judgment. Though teens are more inclined to try new things and take risks, they also seem to be very aware of the need to protect their privacy online.

Though 57% of tweens (ages 10-12) and a whopping 84% of teens said that protecting their personal information online is important, only 48% of parents believe their kids have a good understanding of this need. This disconnect can be a teaching opportunity for both parents and children. By engaging children in a conversation about the value of a positive online reputation, parents have the chance to recognize their kids for their use of online safety tools. As parents, one strategy for approaching this topic is to recognize your child’s expertise—teens are often the resident IT experts in the household.

Pool your knowledge: Let them explain their understanding of privacy settings and other safety measures, then share your own.

The survey also demonstrated that there is a high understanding among teens about the need for online safety and privacy. In fact, a larger percentage of teenagers use privacy settings than both tweens and parents. More than two-thirds of teens have taken a step toward managing their online reputation by searching for their names online. Not only are they searching for what’s out there—teens are cognizant of the importance of keeping information from travelling too far: 81% of teens use privacy settings, compared to 76% of adults and 57% of tweens.

Though the survey brings positive news about families’ online safety discussions, there’s always room for improvement. The survey results show a clear need for education for tweens on internet safety, so they can be as diligent as their older counterparts in managing their digital profiles. Only 27% of tweens indicated that they both understand how to use privacy settings and use them properly.

In addition to tweens having a low adoption rate and low understanding of privacy settings, half of tweens also admit to a deficiency in mobile safety knowledge. The statistics on tween users in relation to mobile safety are indicative of an overall trend. Across the board – for parents, teens, and tweens, mobile safety and geolocation was the number one category where survey respondents said their knowledge was lacking.

Though there is a need for improvement, parents should take to heart that they are in a prime position to fill in their kids’ knowledge gaps. Both tweens and teens credit their parents as their No.1 source of internet safety information, with schools, teachers and guidance counselors as No. 2.

Additionally, data from survey respondents show that one in three households have instituted a family “media agreement,” guidelines and expectations for media use. You can download your own media agreement at Yahoo! Safely. These types of agreements can be a starting point for discussion on acceptable internet use, and can help parents and children learn to agree on household rules and practices.

Overall, we are pleased with the results of the safety survey and hope to see more positive improvements next year.

Here are five steps to consider in improving awareness of online and mobile safety in your household:
1. Talk to your kids about online safety and find out what they know about privacy and safety.
2. Set up a family media agreement—you can download one from Yahoo! Safely or craft your own.
3. Add your kid as a friend on Facebook to better understand who they engage with online.
4. Teach your kids how to use geolocation safely. Learn how with the Yahoo! Safely location services safety tips.
5. For a more detailed summary and the full survey results, check out Yahoo! Safely.

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Connie Chung is a policy manager for Yahoo! Trust and Safety. She assists in the development of the Yahoo! Safely site and tweets at @YahooSafely. She joined Yahoo! as a former intern for iKeepSafe.