According a leading child welfare organization in Taiwan, “Internet literacy can help parents enjoy a better relationship with their children, FocusTaiwan.tw reports. A survey of nearly 1,300 5th- and 6th-graders conducted by the Child Welfare League Foundation found that 41% say they can’t discuss computer-related problems with their parents because the latter don’t understand, and 27% have “fought with their parents over the use of the Internet.” The survey also found that 37% of kids say their parents have never discussed Internet safety with them, a figure “three times higher than [is the case with] Australian parents, the foundation said.” In other findings, 37% of 5th- and 6th-greaders “often make friends via various online social networks such as MSN and Facebook” and 21% “have face-to-face meetings with online friends on a weekly basis.
Completely agree, Toby. I love to find and post kid-tech news like this in other countries to show how universal the issues are. Wish I had more English-language sources in other East and Southeast Asian countries. If anyone wants to send links, you know where to find me! :-)
The same issues arise everywhere, parents have a responsibility to parent their children especially online.