Parents Ill Prepared to Monitor Internet Usage by Children: Know Less Than Kids Do, Experts Note

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Before children surf the Web, parents should instruct them how to do it safely, say experts with the Internet Online Summit that is being held this week in Washington.

But concerns are being raised about how effective parents can be when they know less about the Internet than their children and they're not with their child every time they go on line.

"We don't live in a Beaver Cleaver world, and it's not like it used to be where the parents are home and Mom is home baking cookies," said Monique Nelson, chief operating officer of the Virginia anti-pornography group Enough Is Enough.

Mom and Dad - "especially in the 50-and-older age group" - don't know all that much about the Internet, said Mrs. …