Parental Controls for Online Safety are Underutilized, New Study Finds

Family Online Safety Institute study finds that around half of parents use parental controls on tablets, 47% on smartphones, and 35% on game consoles

Washington, DC, May 28, 2025 – The Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) today released a landmark study examining how parents and children perceive and manage online safety. Despite the growing availability of parental controls across digital platforms, the research—based on a nationally representative survey of 1,000 parents and 1,000 children aged 10–17—found that just around half of parents utilize parental controls on tablets. That percentage drops for other devices such as smartphones, laptops, smart TVs, and game consoles.

At the same time, the study reveals a promising insight: 89% of children say they feel comfortable talking to their parents if something online makes them feel unsafe, highlighting a meaningful opportunity to deepen the kind of open dialogue that is essential for cultivating a child’s digital wellbeing.

“Our findings show that even as parental controls become more available, adoption remains low,” said Stephen Balkam, CEO and Founder of FOSI. “This should prompt serious reflection across the tech industry and policymaking circles and reinforce efforts to make parental controls more accessible and user-friendly. At the same time, this research shows that open communication remains one of the most powerful tools parents have to support their children’s digital wellbeing.”

Key findings from the report:

• Parental controls are underutilized across each device tested. Adoption of parental controls varies widely: 51% on tablets, 47% on smartphones, 46% on desktops, 43% on laptops, 38% on Smart TVs, and 35% on video game consoles.

• Screen time is inversely correlated with parental controls. Parents who report lower screen time for their children are more likely to have installed parental controls, while parents who report higher screen time for their children are less likely to use them.

• Social media is a top concern. Posting on social media is the number one screen time concern for both parents and children—but parents are significantly more worried than  children.

• Gender influences parental rules. Parents of boys are more likely to limit video game play, while parents of girls are more likely to restrict social media usage.

• Kids worry the most about online scams. Children are more concerned about fraud and scams than parents, who tend to worry more about predatory behavior, inappropriate content, misinformation, and excessive screen time.

• Parents underestimate their kids’ online activity. Children reported engaging in a wide range of online activities—including watching videos, gaming, and social media use—at much higher rates than parents perceived.

• Most children feel safe talking to their parents. 89% of kids say they feel comfortable turning to their parents if something online makes them feel unsafe.

The survey also explored awareness and understanding of generative AI across two survey waves that were conducted six months apart:

• Spotting AI is harder than we think. In the first wave of this research, both parents and children struggled to distinguish between real and AI-generated images. Only 9% of respondents in both groups correctly identified all three images as real or fake. Around 43% got at least two correct—suggesting that digital literacy in this area remains a challenge.

• Parental awareness of kids’ AI use is increasing. In the second wave of the survey, significantly more parents reported that their children were using generative AI for tasks like schoolwork and image creation.

This research was conducted by Ipsos, a leading independent research firm, in collaboration with the Family Online Safety Institute and several FOSI member organizations including TikTok and ESA Gaming. 

The study surveyed 2,000 online respondents in the United States, including 1,000 parents of children ages 10 to 17 and 1,000 children within the same age group. The 10-minute survey was fielded online between February and March 2025, with quotas in place to ensure a nationally representative sample based on U.S. Census targets for age and gender. All statistical testing was conducted at a 95% confidence level to ensure the reliability of findings.

Downloadable Resources:

• Full White Paper: Access the complete findings, data visualizations, and analysis from FOSI’s 2025 Online Safety Survey.
• New Device Checklist: A simple, family-friendly guide, inspired by these research findings to help parents and caregivers set up new devices with safety in mind.

About FOSI

The Family Online Safety Institute is an international, non-profit organization that works to make the online world safer for kids and their families. FOSI convenes leaders in industry, government, and the non-profit sectors to collaborate and innovate new solutions and policies in the field of online safety. Through research, resources, events, and special projects, FOSI promotes a culture of responsibility online and encourages a sense of digital citizenship for all. FOSI’s membership includes many of the leading Internet and telecommunications companies around the world.

Media Contact

press@fosi.org