Parents frown on Internet, mobile phones for teens: survey

Parents frown on Internet, mobile phones for teens: survey

MUMBAI: With the explosion of gizmos and explicit content all around; parents of today's teenagers sure are a wary lot. According to a recent survey findings released by Outlook-Synovate, it was found that parents and teens alike feel that there was a huge communication gap between them.

 
 
The study revealed that over 60 per cent parents give thumbs down to the Internet and mobile phones for teenagers. Also an equal number of parents feel that teenagers today have to contend with severe peer pressure making them break taboos. The concern is palpable as at least 63 per cent of the parents polled felt that they have a right to rummage through their teenage child's cupboard – without asking him or her.

 
 
The poll also threw up a larger issue confronting both teens and parents - the inability to freely communicate with each other. Not surprisingly, talking about love life and sexual behavior emerged complete taboos for both teens and parents.

 
 
The survey was conducted by Synovate for the Outlook magazine and parents and teenagers in Bangalore, Chandigarh, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai were polled. In all, 422 boys and girls in the 13-17 age group were interviewed along with 415 parents of teenagers.