Finding common ground: comparing children’s and parents’ views on children’s online skills and safety

This study examines children’s online safety with a particular interest in children’s online safety skills and conduct as well as parents’ mediation strategies. A survey of 141 children and 163 par-ents was conducted. Children have encountered a variety of different online threats, but not many children have been scared or disturbed by what they have seen or experienced. Our study revealed that children have a significantly more positive opinion about their own safety skills than their par-ents have, and that parents have a significantly more positive view on the amount of online safety mediation they engage in compared to children’s view. Implications of these results for research and for designing tools for children’s online safety mediation are discussed, suggesting the ap-proach of ‘family-negotiated online safety of children’.