Protecting Teens Online

Presents findings from a survey conducted between October and November 2004. Looks at the growth in the use of filters to limit access to potentially harmful content online in internet-using households with teenagers aged 12-17

The Ever-Shifting Internet Population

Presents findings from surveys conducted between March and May 2002. Takes a new look at Internet access and the digital divide. Explores factors of cost, lack of technology skills, and physical access (particularly for persons with disabilities)

Teens, Social Media, and Privacy

Teens share a wide range of information about themselves on social media sites; indeed the sites themselves are designed to encourage the sharing of information and the expansion of networks. However, few teens embrace a fully public approach to social media. Instead, they take an array of steps to restrict and prune their profiles, and their patterns of reputation management on social media vary greatly according to their gender and network size

Parents Online

Presents findings from surveys conducted between 2000 and 2002. Looks at the use of the Internet and other technology by parents with a child at home, in comparison with non-parents

The Broadband Difference

Presents findings from a survey conducted in January and February 2002. Examines how online Americans' behavior and level of satisfaction with the Internet changes with high speed Internet connections at home

Social Networking Sites and Our Lives

Examines the characteristics of social networking site users, their online activities, and their friendships, sense of trust, social support, perspectives, and civic engagement by site and compared with those of non-users and users of other technologies

Online victimization: A report on the nation’s youth.

The Internet is an exciting new territory for many young people. Nearly 24 million youth ages 10 through 17 were online regularly in 1999, and millions more are expected to join them shortly. They go there to Iearn, play, meet people, and explore the world. But stories from law-enforcement officials, parents, and young people themselves suggest that not every online adventure is a happy one. The Internet has a seamier side that young people seem to he encountering with great frequency. This national survey confirms many of the stories. Large numbers of young people are encountering sexual solicitations they did not want, sexual material they did not seek, and people who threatened and harassed them in a variety of ways. While many are able to glide past these encounters as mere litter on the information super highway, some experience them as real collisions with a reality they did not expect and were distressed to find. Some of these young people report being upset and afraid in the wake of their encounters and have elevated symptoms of stress and depression. This report describes the variety of disconcerting experiences young lnternet users say they have online and ways they react. It also provides a window into how families and young people are addressing matters of danger and protection on the Internet. Some of the news is reassuring. At the same time, it suggests that the seamy side of the Internet spills into the lives of an uncomfortably large number of youth and relatively few families or young people do much about it. It highlights a great need for private and public initiatives to raise awareness and provide solutions. Nothing in this report contradicts the increasingly well-documented fact that youth and their families are excited about the Internet and its possibilities. They are voting for the Internet with their fingers and pocket books, even as they are aware of some of its drawbacks. But because it is destined to play such an important role in the lives of those growing up today, the question of how to temper some of the drawbacks of this revolutionary medium is worthy of thorough consideration now at the dawn of its development

The relationship between independence, inclusion and well-being: the perspective of older citizens living in Coventry, U.K.

Independence, inclusion and wellbeing are commonly seen in a complementary relationship in policy and research literature. This paper examines the meaning of these terms for older citizens living in Coventry and the implications for policy implementation. The data presented, obtained from a large community survey of citizens of 55 years and over living in Coventry, found that although most survey participants were able to function independently, participate in ordinary community life and enjoyed reasonable physical and mental health, many others experienced a series of significant barriers to inclusion and wellbeing. The paper concludes that there is no automatic convergence between independence, inclusion and wellbeing at the level of the individual citizen and that to address this issue, more socially inclusive rather than individualistic forms of independence may be more appropriate goals for local public agencie

Teens, Kindness and Cruelty on Social Network Sites

Analyzes survey findings about how teenagers navigate the world of "digital citizenship," including experiences of, reactions to, and sources of advice about online cruelty; privacy controls and practices; and levels of parental regulation