Symantec: Kids Search for Porn, Sex, and Fred
So what does sex, porn and Fred have in common? While many could provide an answer not suitable here on Tom's, Symantec's OnlineFamily.Norton service is reporting that those search terms are three out of ten words that kids used most during the February to July time period.
YouTube leads the pack as the #1 search term, followed by Google and Facebook. however, kids are trying to sneak naughty material onto the screen even though the service is tracking and reporting their Internet whereabouts in real time.
The term "sex" ranked fourth in the list, followed by Myspace and Porn. The service reports that Yahoo ranked seventh while Michael Jackson (and his subsequent death) came in the eighth position. Fred, a fictional character that sports a popular YouTube channel, came in ninth, while eBay surprisingly finished off Symantec's top ten.
"I think seeing how dominant the terms 'sex' and 'porn' are, that they come up well within the top 10, doesn't surprise us," said Symantec Internet safety advocate Marian Merritt. "You go down farther in the list, you see words of anatomy like 'boobs,' it almost makes you laugh because we remember what it was like to be a preteen or teen. Parents don't often have context around this sort of thing."
According to CNET, Symantec tracked 3.5 million searches run by registered users of its OnlineFamily.Norton service. Each term appearing on the list had to be entered at least fifty times to qualify.
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They don't mention an age group. So are they defining kids as anyone under 18 or 8? I'd say by 10 any kid with access to a computer are going to search those words.
I would have by the time I was 6.
*Yawn* Not surprised. Did it myself in my teen years
They don't mention an age group. So are they defining kids as anyone under 18 or 8? I'd say by 10 any kid with access to a computer are going to search those words.I would have by the time I was 6.
i think it means anyone under the symantec parental controls service so who knows.
*Yawn* Not surprised. Did it myself in my teen years
Not surprising I did it myself last night... (Im 34)
If i wanted to prevent my kids from looking at porn i would just put their computer in the kitchen or living room.
"If your mother discover this, say it was you who download it from the Internet."
Man, I remember people bring porn magazines on the bus in fourth grade. Unfortunately for me, I thought the "load" on Missy's chest was being excreted by her skin. LOL... I was some piece of work!
Bullshit no kid looks at that stuff. It's probably the parents browsing for it while the control is turned on. Either that or kids means under age 18 because teens look at porn.
What's wrong with these kids learning sex ed at an early age?
I would rather have a world were kids are jerking off because they can get porn online, than experimenting with their classmates.
I am fine with the porn and the violence but Fred? really? come on now!
They're turning the porn kings into child molesters or maybe it's the parents to blame for the molestation.
Kids that learn proper sex ed (not porn) at a young age will be much better off later on. My 6 year old has already had "the talk" and he's already much LESS interested in it then he was before. People are more attracted to things they don't know about.
I have to wonder on which search engine they are so frequently searching for Google so as to make it the number 2 search term.
And who cares?
What are they considering a kid? The age bracket would change a lot, I mean is it around 10 year olds? or are 17 and below counted as kids?
And maybe if the US didn't have idiots making sex into such a taboo, we wouldn't have some of the highest STD rates, Teen pregnancies, etc in first world countries. Also, depending on the kid bracket, we wouldn't have little kids looking up sex as they would know what it is and wouldn't so sheltered from it.
I mean come on, if it wasn't for sex none of us would be here.
Isn't that what adults search for too???
Some of you are acting like this is new.. The only new thing about this is it's easier to go online then steal somebody stash of playboys. Unless you 60+ when sex was never talked about and you watched Andy griffin, I think you're just forgetting what it was like to be a kid.
You are all missing the real issue; Myspace was the fifth most common term.
"The term "sex" ranked fourth in the list, followed by Myspace"
What are the long term effects of exposure to crappy web pages, which play shit music at you when they load. We will have an entire generation of children who think bad page design is cool. Something needs to be done.
Won't somebody think of the children?
I agree with having the PC in kitchen or family room. Don't let kids have a private PC in their room some kids can easily get around PC security.
I agree with having the PC in kitchen or family room. Don't let kids have a private PC in their room some kids can easily get around PC security.
Like any of us could when we were younger.
How did they determine that a kid was sitting at the computer?
Ohhhh... Porn is 99% of the internet? Big deal! We already know that...
"How did they determine that a kid was sitting at the computer?"
If they can determine it was kids doing these searches, I am curious as to how it all breaks down by gender.
Not surprising I did it myself last night... (Im 34)
So you did a search for "sex" or "porn"? You would think that a man in his 30's would have a better way to look at naughty no-nos pictures!
I suppose the real news in this, is that the tracking software actually has a valid reason to exist. If the top 10 was only 'safe for work' stuff, I wouldn't consider it nessecary to have in the first place.
I was in 2nd grade when I started looking at Playboy. What's that, yes I was 7 years old.
WTF is Fred that so many kids search for it.
*Yawn* Not surprised. Did it myself in my teen years
I didn't have to search, just dial up a bbs and type in a couple numbers and bam.. porn access. oddly some sysops knowingly gave access to kids in their mid teens to these sections. I still remember one offhand clearly. Not really sure why they did, seems like a dangerous thing to do legally. Porn was easier to obtain than warez.
Adolescents are interested in learning about sex? GTFO, y'all heathens need Jesus, sex is un-natural and an act against god.
/sarcasm
... there's also a Fred Durst sex video where he's banging a girl that looks like a model. I wonder if it is for that
lol