Oz's new Net-safety study

It's probably no different in the US, UK, and everywhere else: Australian children are online "younger and longer with the growth of broadband," according to the latest study, "KidsOnline@Home" from the Australian Broadcasting Authority and NetAlert, Australia's Internet safety advisory body. By mid-2004, 37% of Australian homes had high-speed Internet access, up from 20% in 2003. "The report also found that while Australian parents and children are overwhelmingly positive about the benefits of the Internet, nearly 40% of parents said that their children have had a negative experience when using the Internet at home," according to the study's press release. Parents and kids are picking up on online-safety messages the researchers found, but - because both technology and kids' use of it keep changing - safety education needs continuous updating, they write. For example, mobile phones: "a quarter of 8-to-13-year-olds now make use of mobiles," the study found. "Parents' concerns about their children's use of mobiles generally relate to the costs of use, and not content issues. However, this is likely to change as it becomes easier to access a wider range of content on mobile devices." Here's the study in pdf format.