Parents fear children's online safety

Australian parents' number one concern is that their children will be exposed to pornography or approached by strangers online, according to a new survey.

The survey found that 49 percent of parents saw child safety as their number one concern when their kids went online, while 47 percent of parents surveyed believed that the internet was unsafe for their children.

It also found that 20 percent of respondents claimed that their child had been approached by a stranger online.

The survey was conducted by governmental internet safety body NetAlert and ninemsn, as part of a drive to tackle online child safety.

According to a statement from NetAlert, parents surveyed had acknowledged that their concern about safety was largely due to their own lack of understanding of the internet.

Among the other findings of the survey were that 86 percent of parents said they needed to be more educated about the internet. "However, 90 percent of parents recognised the internet as a valuable education and communication tool for children," according to the NetAlert statement.