According to the latest Pew Internet & American Life Project telephone survey fielded in October and November 2004, 87% of American youth aged 12 to 17 go online.² That represents roughly 21 million teens who use the internet in some aspect of their lives. The online teen population has increased by roughly 24% since we last asked this question in a survey in December 2000.³ On the flip side, 13% of American teenagers do not use the Internet. About half (47%) of teens who say they do not go online have been online before but have since dropped off.

Parents of teens are also much more likely to go online than the average American adult. Some 80% of parents who have teenagers go online, compared to 66% of all American adults. Parents with teenagers who use the internet have even higher levels of connectivity, with 84% of them reporting internet use.