Across the Political Divide, Parents Sound the Alarm on Kids’ Online Safety
Summary: More in Common US recently surveyed over 2,000 US parents of children ages 17 or under on their thoughts about keeping children safe online. Across different backgrounds and beliefs, parents agree on the scale of the challenge, the need for action, and the solutions—presenting a key point of consensus in a time of profound political division. Read the full report here.
“I’m more afraid of my kids being exposed to stuff on the internet than at school or on the street,” said Jack, father of three, during a recent call More in Common hosted with parents on children’s online safety.
Brianna, mother of eight, echoed this sentiment in another call: “I’m more concerned with my kids in the household with technology than them being outside. And I think that’s a real thing.”
Jack and Brianna aren’t alone.
In our most recent study of 2,082 US parents of kids (defined as ages 17 or under), we find that children’s online safety has become the number one concern for American parents.1 Notably, feelings of concern cut through all demographic categories, including political party affiliation, pointing to the widespread nature of the issue and current lack of solutions.
Why study parents’ attitudes around child online safety?
The rapidly increasing number of Americans (both young and old) spending more and more time online has had profound effects on our everyday lives, our communities, and the country at large. By bringing parents’ voices to the table, we hope to contribute to a major debate about how we as a nation can do a better job at making the internet safe and productive for everyone—especially vulnerable young minds.
Additionally, in a time of toxic political division, identifying surprising or lesser-known areas of common ground can help create political breakthroughs that serve to re-build confidence in democratic governance. Children’s online safety is a clear area of consensus and thus a fitting topic on which to center coalition-building.
Key Findings
1. American parents—across all backgrounds and beliefs—are concerned about children’s online safety.
Over 9 in 10 US parents are concerned about children’s online safety—more than any other child safety issue tested.
More than half (55 percent) of parents think that tech companies and politicians are “not taking this seriously enough.”
2. Regardless of political party affiliation, American parents support nationwide action to keep children safe online.
Majorities across party lines support laws to mandate detection and removal of explicit content of children (Democrats: 83 percent, Republicans: 83 percent), hold tech companies accountable for harmful content on their platforms (Democrats: 80 percent, Republicans: 78 percent), and ban kids under 16 from opening social media accounts without parental consent (Democrats: 76 percent, Republicans: 71 percent).
Nearly three quarters of parents (72 percent) are at least “somewhat” likely to take action on this issue, with over half willing to participate in direct advocacy efforts.
More than half of parents say they would feel “more positively” towards either major political party if they increased online safety protections (Democratic party: 57 percent; Republican party: 62 percent)
3. When considering trade-offs, parents lean in favor of prioritizing children’s online safety.
70 percent of parents support comprehensive age verification systems, even if it means collecting more personal data.
70 percent of parents agree that “protecting children online is more important than protecting free speech online.”
63 percent of parents agree that “social media platforms should use algorithms to significantly deprioritize legal but harmful content.”
Can change happen?
On the topic of children’s online safety, the message is clear: parents across all backgrounds and beliefs want support and are asking leaders for help. However, in focus groups, we often hear parents say they don’t expect change. They doubt that tech companies would prioritize safety over profits or that politicians would actually work together to solve the problem.
As Nami, a mother of an infant, put it: “We cannot expect [the] government or tech companies to care about our children, because they don’t care. They just care about their profit.”
Part of More in Common’s mission is to find common ground and bring people together to work on shared challenges in service of democracy. We’ve identified a rather powerful point of consensus. The question is: who will take advantage of it?
Read the full US report here and the global study here.
Resources
Are you a parent looking for ways to keep your children safe online? Whether you’re setting boundaries, starting conversations, or trying to understand potential risks, these resources offer practical guidance to help navigate your child’s digital world.
Common Sense Media’s guides
Institute of Digital Media & Child Development’s parenting tip sheets based on age level
The Foundation for Social Connection’s report on navigating GenAI with children
Emily Oster, a health economist and author behind the major parenting blog ParentData, interviewed former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy about how to weigh the risks of social media
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Methodology: This summer, More in Common US surveyed 2,081 US parents of children aged 17 and under and conducted five focus groups with parents across the country. We conducted this research in concert with studies in the UK, Netherlands, France and Poland.
I mean...every TV, device, and web browser (and in some cases websites) have parental blocks. It seems to me that this concern is entirely of their own doing. That is, they actually have the tools to make the internet safe (including common sense for children's content), monitoring what their kids view, and their screen times, and using the blocks and filters. All this is telling me is that these parents don't know about the filters and blocks, or didn't care and shoved a screen in their kid's hands.