The findings are from Microsoft\u2019s latest research into aspects of digital civility \u2014 encouraging safer, healthier and more respectful online interactions among all people. The study, \u201cCivility, Safety and Interaction Online \u2014 2019,\u201d polled teens ages 13-17 and adults ages 18-74 about their exposure to 21[2]<\/a> different online risks. This latest research builds on similar studies between 2016 and 2018. The previous years\u2019 projects polled the same demographic groups in 14, 22 and 23 countries, respectively. A total of 12,520 individuals participated in the 2019 study, and we\u2019ve surveyed more than 44,000 people over four years. Full results from this latest poll will be made available on international Safer Internet Day 2020 on Feb. 11.<\/p>\n \u201cSharenting\u201d and online risk: What\u2019s the connection? <\/strong><\/p>\n While our research didn\u2019t explore any direct correlation between parents\u2019 online behaviors and young people\u2019s potential risk exposure, both academic researchers and financial experts have warned that such sharing puts children\u2019s online privacy and potentially their physical safety at risk.<\/p>\n To share or not to share is an individual family\u2019s decision, but if the choice is to share, parents should be attentive, exercise discretion and not inadvertently reveal too much, including children\u2019s real full names, ages, dates of births, home addresses, mothers\u2019 maiden names, favorite sports teams, names of pets and photos, to cite a few examples. On one hand, these individual tidbits of personally identifiable information can be misused in online social engineering schemes, culled together to make children and other young people the targets of online fraud or identity theft, or in extreme cases may even lead to online grooming. Indeed, young children and infants in particular are prime targets for credit fraud. If someone were to take out a line of credit in a child\u2019s name, odds are the child wouldn\u2019t discover it for more than a decade later \u2013 until they applied for their own credit cards or other loans. Meanwhile, online grooming takes place when someone builds an emotional connection with a child in order to gain the child\u2019s trust for sexual exploitation or abuse, or recruitment to terrorist or extremist causes.<\/p>\n \u201cShare with care\u201d should be everyone\u2019s mantra both online and off. For more on protecting your family\u2019s online privacy, visit our digital safety resources page<\/a> and see this<\/a> factsheet. To learn how to stay alert to online grooming, see this<\/a> link.<\/p>\n Teens continue to look to parents for help <\/strong><\/p>\n In keeping with a trend identified in last year\u2019s results, in 2019 teens continued to turn to their parents and other trusted adults for help with online issues. After jumping an impressive 32 percentage points from year two to year three, nearly half (48%) of teens surveyed this year said they\u2019d reached out to a parent about concerns over online activities. That\u2019s up another 6 percentage points from 2018. Just two years ago, fewer than 10% of teens said they had turned to an adult for help with online risks.<\/p>\n In addition, when asked about the best role models for civil and respectful behavior online, teens overwhelmingly pointed to parents (80%), followed by teachers at a distant second (49%), and other adults, athletes and celebrities at 22%, 17% and 15%, respectively.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why we continue to encourage adults to:<\/p>\n Three countries added to 2019 study <\/strong><\/p>\n This year, we added three countries to the study \u2013 Indonesia, The Netherlands and Poland, and we maintained all 22 countries from the 2018 report. When we make full results available in February, we\u2019ll also release the latest reading of the Microsoft Digital Civility Index<\/a>, as well as results of what respondents anticipate and hope for in terms of digital civility and life online in the coming 2020s decade.<\/p>\n Microsoft\u2019s Digital Civility Index measures the perceived level of online civility in a given country based on the reported level of risk exposure of individuals in that country. From 2016 to 2018, the Digital Civility Index held steady, averaging 66%, despite changes to both the mix of countries polled and the various risks included.<\/p>\n We will post at least one additional early look at some of the study\u2019s key findings in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, to learn more about digital civility and how you can become a champion for common-sense online behaviors, visit www.microsoft.com\/digitalcivility<\/a>. For more on digital safety generally, visit our website<\/a>; \u201clike\u201d us on Facebook<\/a> and follow us on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Chart](\"https:\/\/www.sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/teens-say-parents-share-too-much-about-them-online-microsoft-study.png\")
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