Internet & Media

Over half of mothers and one-third of fathers discuss parenting on social media. Parents say social media is most useful for making them feel they are not alone (72%). Three-quarters of parents point to “oversharenting” by another parent.

26% of parents report that their children 2-5 years old have 3 or more hours of entertainment screen time a day. 53% of parents of young children limit the locations where their children can use media devices. 13% of parents report no limits on media device location or screen time limits for their young children.

6% of parents say they can currently get email advice from their children’s usual site of health care. 77% of parents said they would be likely to seek email advice for their children’s minor illness if that service were available. 49% of parents say the co-pay for an email consultation should be $0.

50% of parents say that word of mouth is very important when selecting a doctor for their children, compared with 25% of parents who say that doctor rating websites are very important. Mothers are more likely than fathers, and parents under 30 more likely than parents 30 and over, to say that online doctor ratings are very important.

A majority of parents favor requiring regular hearing screenings for children from preschool through teenage years. For preschool-age children, two-thirds of parents prefer primary care offices for hearing screening. About half of parents prefer that hearing screening for older children take place in schools.

Two-thirds of adults think children should be at least 13 to use the Internet on their own. 29% of parents with children age 9-12 say their child has their own Wi-Fi enabled device; 21% of parents of children age 5-8 have such devices. Nearly two-thirds of adults strongly support proposed updates to COPPA legislation to protect children under age 13.

Overall, 44% of adults in the U.S. believe that sexting is a very serious issue among teens. Most adults (81%) would support state laws requiring schools to educate kids and parents about youth sexting. Most adults do not favor legal consequences for sexting among minors.

Two-thirds of parents have not talked with their teens about hearing loss; most of these parents believe their teens are not at risk. Over half of parents would be likely to buy volume-limiting headphones or earbuds, but only about one-third of parents think their teens would be willing to use them.

Only half of parents think media reports do a good job explaining how research affects their children. Commonly, parents complain that media reports about children’s health are  contradictory, scary and hard to understand. Parents believe that health websites are most accurate among media sources, but TV reaches them first with new information.

More than one-half of parents set limits on the time that children can use cell phones. Only one-third of parents block images on their children's cell phones.