Welcome to the wild, wild web? Fewer parents enforcing internet rules for kids

Canadian children are increasingly being left to their own devices – both literally and figuratively – when it comes to accessing the internet, according to a major new study of students’ online habits, the Vancouver Sun reports. ReleasedWednesday by MediaSmarts, the survey of 5,436 youth in grades 4 through 11 revealed that today’s parents, compared with those in 2005, enforce dramatically fewer rules when it comes to their kids’ internet pursuits. And unlike the recent past, when shared family computers reigned supreme, Canadian students are now likelier to go online using their own smartphone or portable device. But Jane Tallim, co-executive director of MediaSmarts, said it’s not necessarily a “bad news story,” noting that increased household awareness about Internet safety may be leading to less formal policing…