An international online survey has discovered only a third of children think the internet can be dangerous.
It was carried out by online security software maker AVG and surveyed 5420 parents, as well as 2569 children aged five to 10.
Of the children, only 30 percent believed the internet could be dangerous, it showed.
The survey found 47 percent of New Zealand parents worried about the amount of time their children spend online, and that the same number had concerns about how easy it is for their children to access inappropriate content.
80 percent of parents blamed the internet for the fact children were more interested in finding out about sex at an earlier age, while 51 percent said their children were not allowed to visit unknown websites without permission.
But it also showed parents were more likely to snoop on their partners than to check up on their child's use of the internet.
All up, 48 percent of parents placed a low priority on internet safety and online education was a low priority for 21 percent of parents.
Only 9 percent ranked internet safety as the most important consideration.
