Tech Forum

This is the "family safety with technology" forum, so I thought people might be interested in the following results of one study of child (under 18) internet search topics. Perhaps it is a discussion starter?

Methodology
Between Feb. 2, 2009 and Dec. 4, 2009, Norton tracked a total of 14.6 million searches that were submitted by users of their OnlineFamily.Norton service. The list of search terms was ranked from those submitted most frequently to those submitted the least. quoted from article Here

And the results?

Girls vs. Boys (under 18)
While YouTube, Google, and Facebook showed up in the top three of both boys' and girls' search terms, boys' #4 search term was "sex" while girls' #4 was Taylor Swift. However, girls were still interested in the term "sex," coming in at #5 on their list. Quoted again from Here.

When you read the same study, but breaking down the searchers by age, found here, it is shocking to see that even for those under seven years old, the 4th most popular search term was "porn."

We know the sites of Youtube, Google and facebook, apparently three of the most sought after online activities for children, are largely un-moderated and may contain many inappropriate things and dangerous people. The so-called "family filters" can be turned off with a few keystrokes and the history can be easily wiped clean, leaving no trace of where a youth has browsed. You can lock your computer, but the friends house is just a five minute walk....

So, there lies the challenge. No parent can say "but my kids won't." Do we fully know the dangers of technology?

Yes, I should mention, as somebody else will, that the study was done by a business entity (Norton) and therefore perhaps has an "agenda" to push, but there are other studies that show similar trends....

Interesting. How they (Norton) know the age of "searchers"?
Are you sure it's not a trick to sell "Internet security" software?
There are third party study?

marianomarini_vi wrote:Interesting. How they (Norton) know the age of "searchers"?
Are you sure it's not a trick to sell "Internet security" software?
There are third party study?

Good questions!
age of searchers known because of separate accounts for family members, evidently based on age and other factors...names and searches are not connected, apparently

Are there third party studies? A huge volume of them, many academic and governmental, supporting similar data. An internet search will find many, or I'll post some if you want.

marianomarini_vi wrote: Are you sure it's not a trick to sell "Internet security" software?

There is no doubt they are trying to persuade concerned parents to try their service...

But the volume of "scholarly data" collected over the last 10 years provides similar and supporting data, and suggests nobody is trying to "trick" parents into being concerned about youth and pornography on the internet, but rather shout a loud warning. From a study requested by the U.S. Congress way back in 2002:

The fact the children can sometimes see-and sometimes even seek out (explicit material) is not new. However, compared to other media, the internet has characteristics that make it harder for adults to exercise responsible supervision over children's use of it. A particularly worrisome aspect of the internet is is that inappropriate (explicit) material can find its way onto children's computer screens without being actively sought.
quoted from: Youth, Pornography and the Internet (45O pages) http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10261&page=2

http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10261&page=2

Let me explain my point of view because it seem that I'm unaware of Internet's dangers.
What it's wondering, for me, is that all this allarm is basicly use for business instead of products savety grow and security culture.
It seem to me that there are many informations about what to buy instead of how to use it.
And finally, if the problem is so great, why not change programs and oprating sytem too searching for more security?
In my branch we decided to teach members how to use Internet safetly. Of course we can't do advertising about product so we decided to teach Open Source tools so they are not force to buy one or other product.

I don't think this has anything to do with what OS you run or what browser you use. It's all about children looking for inappropriate content on the Internet and what can be done about it.

marianomarini_vi wrote:because it seem that I'm unaware of Internet's dangers.

I'm not sure how things are in Italy. Perhaps the Internet is already filtered or maybe different social attitudes towards sex make it less of an issue. All I know is that in the US it's not hard to find content that our church leaders are warning us to avoid as they are spiritually damaging.

RussellHltn wrote:I don't think this has anything to do with what OS you run or what browser you use. It's all about children looking for inappropriate content on the Internet and what can be done about it.

Have to do with unintentional (virus, malware, ecc.) content.

RussellHltn wrote:I'm not sure how things are in Italy. Perhaps the Internet is already filtered or maybe different social attitudes towards sex make it less of an issue. All I know is that in the US it's not hard to find content that our church leaders are warning us to avoid as they are spiritually damaging.

Yes, culture make a difference. But we are guessing your (culture) very (too) fast. Fathers and mothers are, every less, almost always at home. Most Italian work 8 hours a day, and spend their free time at home. Maybe watching TV, but no chance for kids, under 29 or 30 years old, playing alone around Internet.

marianomarini_vi wrote:Have to do with unintentional (virus, malware, ecc.) content.

While it could be a result of seeking inappropriate content, that's a different subject.

RussellHltn wrote:While it could be a result of seeking inappropriate content, that's a different subject.

I agree.
The new now is also into Italian newspapers. Near this there's also the new that less of half familiy (in Italy) has Internet and only 11% a DSL connection.
I'll check into SWG site (statistic company) to see exactly how they get this data.
It doesn't change the problem, just a personal attitude. I like go to original sources to get informations.

I checked it and find out thas is another research. It's an Italian research about Internet use by family and school.