Do Australian children trust their parents more than peers when seeking support for online activities?

Abstract

This paper considers the relative importance of parents and peers in supporting Australian children's use of the internet and whether those choices for support change with age and gender. The paper reports findings from AU Kids Online, a satellite study to EU Kids Online. Parents were found to be the primary support to Australian children using the internet, with peer support increasingly important as children get older. The potential of these two key socializing influences to minimize harm and build resilience is considered in the light of other studies on Australian family internet use.

Acknowledgements

This paper and AU Kids Online survey draw on the work of the EU Kids Online network funded by the EC (DG Information Society) Safer Internet Plus Programme [project code SIP-KEP-321803]; see www.eukidsonline.net. The authors are grateful to the EU Kids Online network for their support.

Additional information

Funding

The Internet in Australian Family Life was an Australian Research Council Discovery Project (DP0211751) funded from 2002 to 2004, with Lelia Green and Robyn Quin as chief investigators and Donell Holloway and Jack Seddon as research associates. The ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation funded the AU Kids Online research through their risk and representation program.

Notes on contributors

Lelia Green

Lelia Green is Professor of Communications at Edith Cowan University and is a co-Chief Investigator of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative lndustries and lnnovation, funders of the AU Kids Online research. She is on the International Advisory Panel of the EU Kids Online project, and a member of the 30 country network which is led by Professor Sonia Livingstone. Lelia's research has included a specific focus upon the internet in Australian family life since the early 2000s.

Danielle Brady

Danielle Brady is a Senior Lecturer in Media, Culture and Mass Communications and Co-ordinator of Higher Degrees by Research in the School of Communications and Arts at Edith Cowan University. Danielle is an associate researcher on the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative lndustries and lnnovation funded AU Kids Online project and a chief investigator on an ARC Linkage project investigating community use of satellite derived bush fire information.