Children's exposure to negative Internet content: effects

of family context.

The Internet has become an indispensable element of life for most people in the contemporary

world, and children are not excluded. Because of the ubiquitous availability of Internet access, in

schools and libraries, children are increasingly becoming involved in this new technology

(Steyer & Clinton, 2003). As of December 2003, 23 million children in the United States ages

6 to 17 have Internet access at home, which is a threefold increase since 2000 (MediaPost,

2003). According to a survey conducted by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in July

2002, 78% of family households with children have Internet access at home. A survey by Yahoo

and Carat showed that children ages 12 to 17 used the Internet an average of 16.7 hours per

week in 2003 (Indiantelevision, 2003). Given this extensive usage, the Internet has the potential

to be a very powerful socialization agent (Huston, Watkins, & Kunkel, 1989).

The Internet has a double-edged sword characteristic for children: providing many opportunities

for learning (ParentLink, 2004; Wartella, Lee, & Caplovitz, 2002) while exposing children to

potentially negative content (Finkelhor, Mitchell, & Wolak, 2000). The Internet not only provides

significant benefits for children, such as research access, socialization, entertainment, and a

communication tool with families, but it also connotes negative aspects such as violence,

pornography, hate sites, isolation, predators, and commercialism (Media Awareness Network,

2003; National School Boards Foundation, 2003). The Web sites considered detrimental include

those dedicated to negative content such as pornography, violent online games, online

gambling, and so forth. For example, many children can easily access pornographic content on

the Internet. They can also be accidentally exposed to numerous obscene pop-up banner ads

and extensive pornographic content when they type seemingly innocent key words into a search

engine, for example, the name of a singer such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, or

Madonna (U.S. House of Representatives, 2001). According to Finkelhor et al., 25% of the

respondents (n = 1,501, ages 10-17) reported receiving unwanted exposure to sexual materials

while online, and 19% received a sexual solicitation online.

Despite the potential negative effects on children using the Internet, more than 30% of surveyed

parents had not discussed the downside of Internet use with their children (Internet Advisory

Board, 2001), and 62% of parents of teenagers did not realize that their children had visited

inappropriate Web sites (Yankelovich Partners, 1999). Recognizing the ever-serious negative

aspects of children using the Internet and parents' possible underestimation of, or ignorance

about, their children's Internet usage and its effects, this study explores the degree of children's

exposure to negative Internet content and detects the possible discrepancy between what

parents think their children are doing online and their children's actual activities. In doing so, this

study carefully dissects the possible causes and consequences of perceived parental control

over children's Internet usage. Concerned that inappropriate Internet content may jeopardize

the health or safety of children, the present study is a crucial attempt that aims to address the

following research inquires with regard to children's Internet usage: (a) to understand the

degree to which children are exposed to negative Internet content, (b) to detect a possible

discrepancy between parents' perception and children's actual exposure to negative Internet

content, (c) to examine various antecedents explaining perceived parental control over

children's Internet usage, and (d) to suggest various ways to decrease children's exposure to

negative Internet content.

Negative Effects of Using the Internet

There is an increasing concern from educators, psychologists, and parents about the negative

effects of using the Internet on the physical (e.g., information fatigue syndrome), cognitive (e.g.,

inability to discriminate between the real and cyber world), and social development (e.g., identity

confusion) of children (Cordes & Miller, 2000), among which, detriment to social development

(hurting children's skills and patience to conduct necessary social relations in the real world) is a

paramount problem (Affonso, 1999). One of the most serious concerns regarding children's

social development involves the proliferation and easy accessibility of negative content on the

Internet, such as pornography, violence, hate speech, gambling, sexual solicitation, and so forth

(Internet Advisory Board, 2001; ParentLink, 2004). It is easy to see how these types of negative

content harm children and destroy their development. Extant literature shows that children's

exposure to inappropriate media content yields many negative outcomes such as increased

aggression, fear, desensitization, poor school performance, prevalence of symptoms of

psychological trauma, antisocial behavior, negative self-perception, low self-esteem, lack of

reality, identity confusion, and more (e.g., Donnerstein, Slaby, & Eron, 1994; Fleming &

Rickwood, 2001; Funk & Buchman, 1996; Strasburger & Donnerstein, 1999; Wartella, O'Keefe,

& Scantlin, 2000).

In particular, sexually explicit materials on the Internet can desensitize children to deviant sexual

stimuli and encourage them to enact antisocial aggressive sexual behaviors (W. Fisher & Barak,

2001). Furthermore, the anonymity of the Internet makes it easier for pedophiles to approach

children through online chatting. Children who spend hours in chat rooms looking for friends or

just passing time can be easily targeted and abused by unknown adult sexual offenders

(KidsHealth, 2004). Violent online games are another serious concern. It is known that violent

computer games increase children's physical, verbal, relational, and antisocial aggressions

(Donnerstein et al., 1994). These negative effects of violent games on children are even more

serious regarding the Internet because access to such violent games has become easier for

unsupervised children due to free or fee-based online games (Collwell & Payne, 2000). Online

gambling has also been cited as a serious Internet problem affecting children. It can seriously

disrupt children's social and psychological development, for example, addiction, being unable to

repay debts, missing school, and so forth (Ho, 2002; Mikta, 2001).