Online Safety Across the Generations

Technology has the power to bring families together across generations.

This year, FOSI explored intergenerational technology use as well as how parents and seniors think about the benefits and challenges technology brings to their families. In this new report, FOSI asked parents about digital role modeling, managing content and screen time, and what resources they rely upon to help navigate their family’s online safety. For the first time, FOSI also looked at how seniors feel about going online, to better understand their concerns, what they may be interested in doing online, and how they rely on their adult children and their grandchildren in order to address with technology issues. Both parents and seniors shared some the steps they take to protect themselves and their families when it comes to the Internet.

This report was conducted by Hart Research Associates on behalf of FOSI and was made possible thanks to sponsorship from the Comcast Innovation Fund and Comcast’s Internet Essentials Program. The study includes quantitative data as well as qualitative data from two focus groups. The quantitative findings are based on data from national surveys conducted by telephone among 701 American seniors aged 62 and older, as well as an online parent survey of 673 parents with children aged 2-17. Both surveys included over samples of African-American, Hispanic, and low-income households.

Read the Executive Summary, Full Report, press release, and view the slides.