The overwhelming majority of parents with children in high school are using a variety of methods to monitor and even limit Internet use by their offspring. They fear the Internet is a potentially corrupting influence and that its computer games are a waste of time.
That is the conclusion of a recent survey by Fudan University's Psychological Research Center, the Yangpu District Psychological Education Center and Modern Student magazine.
The survey also reveals that parents fear that the Internet could hinder the psychological development of their children, researchers said.
They found that 91.6 percent of parents supervised their children's use of the Internet. The remainder gave their offspring a free rein.
The survey, conducted during the three-month period ended in November, is based on questionnaires filled out by the parents of 1,080 students in the 10th through 12th grades at 11 local high schools. Their children also responded.
The inquiry found that 41.7 percent demanded that their children first get their permission before logging onto the Internet; 38.8 percent limited the time their offspring could use the Internet.
Moreover, 10.3 percent said they told their children that they, too, must see the Websites being visited.
Three percent said they installed monitoring software to track where their children have been in cyberspace.
"Most" of the high schoolers - the survey's researchers didn't provide a specific percentage - said they resented having their parents virtually looking over their shoulders as they cruised the Internet.
Students felt they could police themselves to avoid Websites that had pornographic or violent content, the survey found.
Parents disagreed. "I know of at least a dozen instances in which teen-agers were enticed by unsavory elements when they lingered in chatrooms, making 'bad' friends," said Wang Xinfang, 43, who last year purchased a personal computer for her daughter, an 11th grader. Gu Xiaoming, a Fudan sociology professor who participated in the study, said rather than playing cyber cop, parents should teach their children how to best use the Internet.
"Good instruction is better because many students use the Internet as a change of pace from their heavy academic load or use it to find interesting information," Gu added.
(eastday.com January 9, 2002)
