The study was conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project in partnership with the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) and with the support of Cable in the Classroom.

The cable industry’s education foundation, Cable in the Classroom, has a long history of providing educators with tools and resources that help them do their job better. CIC has been an advocate within the education community and elsewhere for “digital citizenship,” which is a holistic approach to helping children learn how to be both safe and smart participants in a digital world.  This means helping kids understand their rights and responsibilities, recognize benefits and risks, and realize the personal and ethical implications of their online actions.

This new research, with its insights into how kids learn online behavior, how they navigate and behave in the online world and who they turn to for advice and guidance, can help determine the most useful and relevant approaches to take, as the online safety community considers and designs tools, resources, and policies to help keep kids safe online.

It’s no surprise that social media use is widespread among teens: Fully 95% of all teens ages 12-17 are now online and 77% are users of social media sites. For the most part, these kids have positive experiences online and in social networks.

The study found that some 69% of the teenagers who use social networking sites say their peers are mostly kind to one another on such sites. While, 88% of these teens say they have witnessed people being mean and cruel to another person on the sites, 47% say they saw such behavior “only once in a while” and only 12% say they witnessed cruel behavior “frequently.”

Adult social network users are less likely to say they witness or experience this type of behavior, but they still report that it is prevalent: 69% of the adults who use social networking sites say they have seen people be mean and cruel to others on those sites.

Kids are mostly acting responsibly while online. While 19% have been bullied, around 80% have taken some action to support the target or get the bully to stop. Most kids (55%) have refrained from posting something because it might reflect unfavorably on them in the future.  Four of five kids are using some privacy controls on their profiles.

As they try to navigate difficult social environments, virtually all teens say they receive advice about online safety from a wide variety of people in their lives. Parents are the top source: 86% of teens say they received advice from their parents about how to use the internet safely and responsibly and 70% received advice from teachers and schools. Teens reported that parents were also the biggest influence on shaping what they think is appropriate or inappropriate behavior when going online or using a cell phone. At the same time, 18% of teens say that “no one” influences them about their attitudes towards online behavior.

This is an important point. Even though your kids might not act like they’re listening, they will take it to heart if you can provide them with proper tips. There are some great opportunities for parents and teachers to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to offer useful and effective advice when called on.

Broadband can be a powerful tool. But all tools need some instruction to be used wisely. We’ll continue to promote the use of cable content and technology to expand and enhance learning for children and youth nationwide, but we’ll also continue to promote safety tips and education on how best to do so.

If you have kids, you’re most likely aware that cell phones are increasingly prevalent in their lives, which then raises concerns about privacy invasions, cyberbullying, sexting, and addictive behavior. Some statistics were offered:

• 12% of teens can have a cell phone at school at all times
• 63% of teens say they’ve sent a text message in class
• 43% of kids have sent mean messages via text
• 33% of teens have received a sext message

The event is a timely reminder that technology can be very empowering, but it requires savviness and, at times, some caution.

As the cable industry has become a leader in delivering broadband to 42 million consumers, we’ve also taken on the responsibility to help parents and teachers educate our children how they can be smart and safe in this increasingly complex digital world.  Cable in the Classroom, the cable industry’s education foundation, is leading this effort; yesterday, they re-launched their website, which better represents their new focus on digital citizenship.

What is digital citizenship?

Digital citizenship brings Internet safety and security together with digital literacy, ethical behavior and civic engagement in a holistic package of curricular resources, lesson plans, activities, and research.

This concept of digital citizenship is a new one and CIC is working closely with the experts in the field to help define this idea and help deliver the resources that teachers and parents need to instill it in children.

FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn applauded CIC’s focus saying that:

The inclusion of a Digital Citizenship initiative is another step in the right direction, as the awareness of essential online techniques is crucial as more and more children and new users venture into the connected universe.

Working together, we can make our children responsible citizens in our newly digital world.

The latest initiative in this effort comes from The Advertising Council (Ad Council) and a new task force it has assembled, the Internet Safety Coalition.  NCTA and Cable in the Classroom are partners in the effort, and Ad Council has just launched a modest new public service campaign.

“Beware What You Share” unites more than 40 industry leaders to help keep teens safer online.   We’re in good company, with other coalition members that include AT&T, Google, Interactive Advertising Bureau, Microsoft, and the Wireless Foundation (for a complete list, visit www.internetsafetypartners.org).

Our message offers teens some simple digital safety guidelines: “If you wouldn’t wear it, don’t share it. Beware what you share.”  Videos and Web banners show teens the consequences of sharing personal information online.

Beware What You Share campaign materials are being shared with cable systems and cable networks to help educate their customers and viewers.

We hope these messages help empower teens to be smart about what they share online.  We also hope this work with a variety of large companies and organizations further helps shape attitudes and change behaviors behind a variety of social issues linked to Internet use.  Ultimately, of course, we want to help keep our children safer in cyberspace and help families enjoy a more positive and productive Internet experience.

A single campaign – no matter how brilliant – can’t do much to move the needle.  Online safety for families can only be enhanced by broader education about Internet use and digital citizenship; a deeper commitment to media and digital literacy on the part of all companies in the Internet ecosystem; and providing to families the right tools to help them better and more effectively manage Internet content and use.  Cable’s commitment to these objectives is embodied in our PointSmart.ClickSafe. initiative.  Campaigns such as Beware What You Share help us keep the flame burning for improvements in online safety.

The good news about our über-connected society is the infinite cultural, educational and entertainment opportunities that are now available for kids at their fingertips. However, the bad news is that the Internet is also full of content that isn’t kid-friendly.

In the good news category, most companies that help provide Americans their Internet experience have acknowledged that we must be proactive in our efforts to ensure that our children are safe and smart online.

To reiterate cable’s commitment to helping kids become savvier about being online, NCTA President & CEO Kyle McSlarrow today spoke to the Family Online Safety Institute’s (FOSI) annual conference here in Washington. [Read McSlarrow’s speech.] Teaching children how to use the Internet is about more than showing them how to navigate a computer or web browser; they must also be able to understand where they are going and where they shouldn’t go.

As McSlarrow said this morning, “Improving digital literacy is an important step toward helping all Americans become full-fledged digital citizens.”

But what can we do as a nation create responsible users of the Internet? NCTA has been encouraging Congress to spend $500 million of the $7 billion broadband stimulus funds to create and execute a national digital media literacy program. This program would help schools teach kids to be safe and smart in the digital world, and would help bridge the digital divide between schools that are able to offer digital literacy training and those that are not.

Also, Senator Robert Menendez (D–NJ) and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D – FL) stepped up this summer and sponsored legislation to support online safety and digital literacy training programs.

With a push from the federal government through funding and/or legislation, online safety should be a real national priority. We think that tools could be created for use by teachers, students and parents. Funding could also support underserved school districts, as well as professional development for teachers.

We’ve been talking about this issue for a while, and we have a ways to go before every child is safe online. If you missed this from the summer, NCTA was part of a coalition of tech companies, child advocacy and parents’ groups, educators, and health researchers that put together a report on online safety best practices. Read our earlier blog post and the PointSmart.ClickSafe. report.

Today, the members of that coalition were joined by U.S. Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and John Shimkus (R-IL) to announce the release of the resulting report of their findings: PointSmart.ClickSafe: Task Force Recommendations for Best Practices for Online Safety and Literacy.

Here is some of the news coverage:

• Tech Firms Report on How to Keep Kids Safe Online
• Google, Verizon, Others in New Child Safety Push
• Online Safety Consortium Backs Education, Coordination
• Businesses Should Provide Online Safety Education, Report Says

There are also reports from the blogosphere, such as Google and Verizon‘s policy blogs, as well as from the Progress & Freedom Foundation. [UPDATE: Also, a post from The Media Institute.] Members of Congress also released statements of support.

In addition, CongressDaily reported that legislation may be coming soon on this issue:

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., will soon introduce legislation that would create a competitive grant program for state and local education agencies and non-profit organizations to provide Internet safety education to teachers, schools and parents. The measure, which would authorize up to $175 million over five years, would be administered by the Justice Department in collaboration with the departments of Health and Human Services and Education.

I asked Frank Gallagher, the Director of Education and Media Literacy at Cable in the Classroom, for some thoughts on the issue of online safety. He reports:

Children’s Internet safety is an “ecosystem of shared responsibilities.” It’s an issue that’s bigger than any one group or sector. The Internet industry, government, law enforcement, advocacy organizations, schools, parents, public health — all these stakeholders have vital roles to play but none can, by themselves, ensure child safety.

Yet, too often, in the search for a silver bullet solution, well-meaning organizations within these sectors release recommendations that cover only a single sector (i.e., what law enforcement can do). They are working in silos. What each does is necessary, but not sufficient. A broader approach is necessary.

That’s what makes PointSmart.ClickSafe. different. Growing out of the PSCS Summit last year, this effort began as an attempt to define a set of voluntary Internet safety best practices for the Internet industry. The task force that created this report consists of a diverse group of stakeholders including all aspects of the Internet industry, various internet safety and media literacy organizations, educators, parents, child advocacy groups and public health professionals.

Led by the Internet Keep Safe Coalition (i-KeepSafe) and Common Sense Media, in collaboration with Cable in the Classroom and NCTA, the task force worked for a year to create this report and best practice recommendations. The task force began by looking at the whole landscape of child internet safety. It looked at child development, technology options, public health issues, and legal concerns and was informed by the work of the Byron Report and the Home Office recommendations in the UK and the Berkman Center’s report.

The best practices are the heart of the report and lay out what the Internet industry can do to help keep kids safe online. However, the report also recognizes that the Internet industry cannot, by itself, ensure safety and that many other stakeholders must play important roles. To that end, the report also contains recommendations for actions and policies covering other stakeholder groups.

The best practices represent a big step towards a safe and secure Internet experience for children. Combined with the NTIA panel recommendations (when issued), educational efforts in the schools, involvement of public health professionals, law enforcement and government, we can make significant progress towards our goal of protecting kids as they explore the wealth of online opportunities they have for information, self-expression and entertainment.

The report can be found online.