Differences in high school and college students' basic knowledge and perceived education of Internet safety: Do high school students really benefit from the Children's Internet Protection Act?

The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA; 2000) requires an Internet filtering and public awareness strategy to protect children under 17 from harmful visual Internet depictions. This study compared high school students who went online with the CIPA restriction and college students who went online without the restriction in order to investigate differences in basic knowledge and perceived education of Internet safety protection strategies. The two groups differed in Internet use at school but did not differ in their Internet use at home, their knowledge of Internet safety, and their Internet education experiences. Findings suggest that CIPA is associated with a decrease in high school students' Internet use at school but does not appear to have a beneficial effect on their knowledge of Internet safety or opportunities for Internet safety education. Applied implications of using a filtering strategy in schools but not in home settings as a means of improving knowledge and awareness of Internet safety issues are discussed.