A new study gives us an idea of how teenagers use the Internet. Some of the highlights are listed below:
- Teens spend an average of 31 hours per week online
- They spend nearly 2 hours viewing porn
- Teens spend 3 and 1/2 hours talking to friends on MSN
- They spend 2 hours on YouTube and in chat rooms
- Over an hour is spent looking up information on cosmetic surgery procedures
- An hour and a half is spent getting information about birth control or pregnancy
- Over an hour and a half is spent getting information about diet and weight loss
- 1 in 4 regularly speak to strangers online
- Teens also use the Internet to help on homework assignments and to interact with friends and family.
Not all of the above things are bad. Do any of them surprise you?
Do you know what your children look at online? If you are a teen reading this, do your parents know what you use the Internet for?
How can we safeguard our children without taking away the most important communication tool available to us right now? What do you do?
Theologically Speaking 
I really don’t know. I’ll keep thinking on it.
Interestingly enough, my older brother’s 6-year-old son was caught looking at porn on the net (well, trying to — he couldn’t figure out the whole “safe search” part of google).
We have to have a plan and we have to have it now.
No, my parents do not know what I do online. They don’t even know when I’m online anymore, because I have my laptop. However, I have that freedom for a reason, They monitored my internet use all the time when I was younger. Sometimes, I’d try to delete history because I didn’t want my mom asking me what a certain site was (not because it was bad, I just didn’t want to share my life with her) and she’d find ways around it.
So, for the parents wondering how to keep an eye on it: History and cookies. They’re your friends.