The FINANCIAL — Any parent who has ever watched their child hunched over their smartphone, furiously tapping away, may have wondered – “What exactly are they doing?” And, “Should I check their phone?”
Among smartphone users ages 8-17, 43% say that their parents occasionally check their smartphone, finds a recent Harris Poll. An identical 43% of parents (of smartphone-using kids under 18) say they occasionally monitor their child’s smartphone activity…with their knowledge. However, 35% occasionally check their child’s smartphone without their knowledge. While parents display both habits, enough are doing it only on the sly to drive the combined percentage of these parents up to 57%. When it comes to location tracking, two in ten (20%) smartphone users ages 8-17 say their parents occasionally use smartphones to track their location but a total of 25% of parents of smartphone users say they in fact do so (22% with their children’s knowledge, 10% without).
While many parents may struggle with just how much to monitor smartphone activity, just one-fourth (26%) of youths say they have a “contract” with their parents that they must follow in order to keep their smartphone and only two in ten (19%) have a smartphone “curfew,” after which the phone must be off and/or not in their possession. Rules are more commonly reported by 8-12 year old smartphone users, with majorities of this younger set saying their parents check their smartphones to monitor activity (65%) and have disciplined them by taking away their smartphone (54%).
Nearly four in ten report having a smartphone “curfew” (38%) and/or “contract” (37%), according to Harris Interactive Inc. Two in ten (20%) are not allowed to password-protect their smartphones, while over four in ten (43%) say they are allowed to do so but must share the password with their parents. Three in ten (29%) say their parents use their own smartphones to track their location.
Not to contradict the Fresh Prince, but parents – at least those of smartphone users – actually do seem to understand. While not boasting 100% accuracy, they appear to be generally realistic about many youth smartphone behaviors – whether they like them or not – and in their estimation of what children are doing with their smartphones.
46% of parents of smartphone users under 18 believe their child texts or messages while in class, while 42% of 8-17 year old smartphone users admit to ever doing so. The same trend holds true for some other behaviors, including: Sending and/or receiving suggestive texts (18% parents, 19% 13-17 year olds); Checking the phone while crossing the street (20% parents, 19% 8-17 year olds).
But kids aren’t as bad as parents may think, as parents appeared to over-estimate bad behavior in a couple of areas:
26% believe their smartphone-wielding children use their devices to share negative gossip, while only 18% of 8-17 year old smartphone users say they do so.
14% believe their children have used their smartphones to cheat on a test in some way, while only 6% of 8-17 smartphone users admit to having done so.
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