More than half of parents sometimes monitor children's smartphone use

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Oct. 18 (UPI) -- While 43 percent of parents say they monitor children's smartphone usage openly, 35 percent sometimes do so secretly, a U.S. poll indicates.

The Harris Interactive survey questioned 2,286 people aged 18 and older and 1,217 children and teenagers aged 8 to 18 in late August. It found 43 percent of both adults and children described open tracking of smartphone activity.

More than half, 57 percent, of parents do some monitoring of their children, with some doing so both openly and without letting children know.

One in four parents say they sometimes use their children's smartphones to check on their location. Only one in five children said their parents used phone monitoring for that purpose.

Almost 40 percent of children, 37 percent, said their parents have imposed a smartphone "curfew" on them, and 37 percent said they have a "contract" with their parents on usage. Twenty percent said their parents do not allow them to have password protection and 43 percent said they have to give their parents the password.