The impact of internet parenting styles on internet use of students

The use of internet in all areas, is increasing. Students are among the main users of the Internet. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of internet parenting styles on the actual use of the Internet by students at home. For this purpose, 300 parents of ninth grade students were selected using cluster sampling. They responded to a questionnaire consisting of parents and children characteristics, use of the internet, and internet parenting styles with two dimensions: parental control and parental warmth. The results showed that the majority of families have access to the Internet at home (78%) and the authoritative parenting style was dominant (43.7%). Parents’ access to the internet at home is related to their age and education. As well as parenting styles influenced by gender, age, education, experience and attitude of the parents. Internet parenting styles also affect students’ internet usage. The highest child usage level is perceived when parents adopt a permissive parenting style and the lowest level is observed when parents adopt an authoritarian parenting style. Education, control, experience and gender of parents predict internet usage of students at home (R2= .21). Finally, it was concluded that internet parenting styles is a new factor to explain and predict the acceptance and use of the Internet by students.