About two-thirds of mothers of teens in the United States are just as, or more, concerned about their teenagers’ online safety, such as from threatening emails or solicitation by online sexual predators, as they are about drunk driving (62 per cent) and experimenting with drugs (65 per cent), according to new research released today by Internet security company McAfee, Inc.

This fear is supported by the McAfee study, which revealed that 52 per cent of teens have given out personal information to someone online they don’t know offline, with 34 per cent of online teen girls having given out a photograph or a physical description of themselves to someone they don’t know. The biggest hurdle mothers face is keeping track of what their kids do online, as 32 per cent of teens said they have cleared the browser history when they have finished using the computer, and 16 per cent have created private e-mail addresses or social networking profiles to hide what they do online from their parents.

The research conducted by Harris Interactive(R) for McAfee among more than 1,000 U.S. moms of online teens aged 13-17 and online teens aged 13-17, offers numerous insights into moms’ fears and teenagers’ behaviors on the Internet. Fifty-eight per cent of mothers do not believe the government is doing enough to keep children safe online. And moms no longer view their children’s bedrooms as a safe place either - 44 per cent said they worry about their teens’ safety when they are online in their bedroom unsupervised, and about one in four (24 per cent) are more concerned about what their children do online than what they do when they are out of the house. When it comes to their teens’ online behavior, sharing too much personal information is a primary worry of 58 per cent of mothers.

Are Mothers Deluding Themselves About What Their Kids Do Online?

According to the study, the answer is a resounding "yes." McAfee’s research found that 72 per cent of mothers have a verbal agreement with their teen - that is, a discussion of what is and is not allowed online - and 48 per cent admitted they don’t always know what their kids do online. Through polling teens, McAfee discovered that the reality is that many teenagers are spinning a web of evasive operations to avoid their parents’ supervision, while potentially exposing themselves and others to cyber dangers.

• 63 per cent of teens said they know how to hide what they do online from their parents. 43 per cent have closed or minimized the browser at the sound of a parental step, 32 per cent have cleared the browser history when they have finished using the computer, 16 per cent have created private e-mail addresses or social networking profiles and 11 per cent have unlocked/disabled/ parental/filtering controls
• 52 per cent of teens have given out personal information online to someone they don’t know offline including personal photos and/or physical descriptions of themselves (24 per cent). Double the number of teen girls have shared photos or physical descriptions of themselves online as boys (34 per cent girls vs. 15 per cent boys)
• 20 per cent of teens have engaged in cyberbullying behaviors, including posting mean or hurtful information or embarrassing pictures, spreading rumors, publicizing private communications, sending anonymous e-mails or cyberpranking someone
• 9 per cent of teens have used the Internet to cheat at school

So how far will mothers go to keep a protective eye on their teen’s activities online? In order to keep track of what their teen does online, a quarter (26 per cent) of moms said they have joined and "friended" their child on a social networking site, but many moms are going undercover to monitor their children. Fifty nine per cent said they check their child’s browser history when they are done using the Internet and 15 per cent use a software program to monitor what their kids do online.

Many adolescents would be shocked by such underhand tactics. A quarter would be shocked (24 per cent), one in five would feel hurt (19 per cent) and 34 per cent would feel offended if they found out their mother, like Lynette, a mom on the television show, "Desperate Housewives," was keeping track of what they do online without their knowledge or permission.

The study marks a new education initiative by McAfee to help moms keep up with the latest online dangers and teach their kids to stay safe online with its appointments of Tracy Mooney as its first Chief Cyber Security Mom and online safety expert, lawyer and author Parry Aftab as its first Family Internet Safety Advisor.

To learn how to create a dialogue between parents and children about online safety, parents are invited to download "McAfee’s 10 Step Internet Safety Plan" e-book at www.mcafee.com/advice.

About the Survey

Harris Interactive conducted this online survey within the United States on behalf of McAfee, Inc. between September 26 and October 8, 2008, among 529 teens ages 13-17 who access the Internet and between September 30 and October 10, 2008, among 598 women ages 18+ who are mothers/legal guardians of teens ages 13-17 who access the Internet. Data were weighted to be representative of each population respectively. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

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