McAfeee put out a new report [pdf download]  today titled, The Secret Online Lives of Teens. Commissioned by McAfee and conducted online by Harris Interactive from May 4th to May 17th, 2010, the study surveyed almost 1,400 youths between the ages of 10 and 17 years old in the U.S. on “how they use the internet, what kind of content and media they view and download, and their level of engagement in risky online behavior.” One of the promising finds of this study appears to be a decrease in the instances of cyberbullying. According to the study, 8% surveyed said they’d been the victim of cyberbullying while 87% answered “no,” leaving 5% of those surveyed in the “weren’t sure” if I’ve been cyberbullied category. These numbers are down from 2008 when they were 15% were victimized, 76% weren’t and 9% “weren’t sure” if they had been. The report had some very interesting information beyond just cyberbullying though.

How They Handle Personal Information

The rest of the study produced some positive data as well as some which parents might find disturbing. The good news is that though these children are giving out personal information, most of it is nothing more than they’re already giving out on sites like Facebook. “When they do reveal personal information online, youth are most likely to share their first name (36%), age (28%), and/or email address (19%). Only around one in ten have given out slightly more personal information, like a photo of themselves, their school name, last name, cell phone number, or a description of what they look like.”(pg.11) As a parent, it is still disturbing since this information also shows that since 2008, the number of teens who’ve given their phone number out has increased from 8% to 12%. Again, this is due in large part to an increase in the number of youths using social media like Facebook and the fact that much of this same information is posted to many of these same teens’ Facebook accounts.

» Read more: New Study Finds A Decrease In Cyberbullying