The prevalence of Internet addiction (IA) is 1.5-13.9% in the USA, Europe and Russia; in Asian countries it reaches 7.5-36.9 %. Such a significant difference in the assessment of the scale of the phenomenon makes it possible to raise the question of the reliability of the criteria used. The goal of this study was to compare the results of questioning parents using questionnaires on Internet gaming behavior in children and adolescents, as well as a questionnaire on types of upbringing. The main group consisted of parents of 26 children and adolescents aged 6-17 years, 14 boys and 12 girls, whose parents complained of their excessive use of the Internet. The comparison group consisted of the parents of 31 children and adolescents aged 4-17 years, 21 boys and 10 girls, whose parents had no such complaints. The severity of Internet activity was measured by Test for child Internet addiction and "Determination of dependence on computer games, children's version" questionnaire. The types of upbringing were estimated by "Analysis of family relationships" questionnaire. It was found that the IA severity in the group of children and adolescents whose parents believed that their children were overly addicted with a group of children and adolescents without such complaints did not reveal significant differences. At the same time, differences in the educational position of parents in the compared groups were revealed. It has been shown that those parents who consider their children online gaming activity to be excessive are less able to use prohibitive measures. They are more characterized by an unstable type of upbringing, and they are distinguished by the immaturity of the emotional attitude towards their children, which manifests itself in such features as the expansion of the sphere of parental feelings and their underdevelopment.