"I was against her having a Facebook account because I think she's too young but she kept making accounts under different names so I decided to let her have one on the condition she give me her username and password so I can check what she's doing whenever I want.
"Both myself and her older sister have access to the account and we make sure she doesn't engage with bullies or share personal information like addresses and phone numbers."
Ms Aitchison said other families needed to "get with the programme and keep an eye on what their kids are doing to make sure they're staying safe".
Patrick Walsh, John Paul College principal and chairman of the Ministry of Education's Cyber Bullying Workforce, said he agreed with the survey's results.
"In my experience it is apparent many parents are completely oblivious to what their children are doing online.
"There have been occasions when we've had a problem with a student's Facebook page and when we've shown the parents they were absolutely shocked and horrified at the language and graphic imagery their child used. This just shows the lack of monitoring some parents do of their child's social media profiles."
Mr Walsh said his school regularly stressed the importance of communicating cyber safety to parents.
"Parents should be checking the computer history and talking to their children about cyber safety. Also ensuring computers are in communal spaces such as the lounge will go a long way in preventing inappropriate behaviour.
"Through our research we have found that while young people may be more technically savvy than their parents, they lack the emotional maturity to deal with situations and are often naive with trusting people over the internet."
Readers on the Rotorua Daily Post Facebook page agreed it was vital to keep watch of children's online activity.
Internet tips for parents
* Have an open dialogue. It's important to start the conversation with your children early.
* Set aside time to discuss appropriate online behaviour and create age-appropriate "House Rules" about how computers, smart phones and gaming systems are used.
* Spend some time educating children about the dangers of the internet and create awareness around issues such as sexting and cyberbullying.
* Make sure your kids are not sharing private information like passwords, addresses and phone numbers with people they don't know.
* Consider free parental control technologies that help enforce the ground rules and can limit the sites that can be accessed and the type of information that can be shared online.
* To learn more visit nz.norton.com/family-resources
