Kids' search terms: Sex, games, rock 'n' roll

Kids search for the darndest things online.

In recent months, they've been looking for everything from Facebook and YouTube to Michael Jackson, Miley Cyrus, and someone named Fred. Oh, yes, they're also looking for pictures their parents probably don't want them to see.

That's the upshot of a new report from Symantec, based on use of its OnlineFamily.Norton service, which lets parents monitor and manage their kids' online activities, including Web searches. The service can track and report on a child's Internet whereabouts in real time, allowing parents to quickly learn of any content they feel their kids should not be accessing.

Here are the top 10 search terms among kids for the period from February through July:

1. YouTube
2. Google
3. Facebook
4. Sex
5. MySpace
6. Porn
7. Yahoo
8. Michael Jackson
9. Fred
10. eBay

Other terms that made the top 100 included Eminem (49), the Jonas Brothers (47), iTunes (89), Playboy (also at 89), boobs (28), Wikipedia (14), Webkinz (16), games (17), and swine flu (93). Fred? He's a fictional character whose YouTube channel has become a hit among kids, Symantec says.

In an interview with CNET News, Symantec Internet safety advocate Marian Merritt discussed OnlineFamily.Norton, the latest search results, and how parents can help their kids surf more safely.

In her role, Merritt spends a lot of time talking to kids and parents. She said she was less surprised by the results than some of her co-workers.

"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 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."

In search of YouTube
By speaking with children as part of her job, Merritt says she understands why kids are searching for the terms found in the list.

"Whenever I talk to children, all the way down to the kindergarten level, YouTube is one of the top three or four sites they go to," she explained. "And children even report they use YouTube as a research starting point. There's a topic they're interested in. They go to YouTube because they want to visually learn about something. The reason that's important for parents to understand is that there are challenges around making YouTube a safe environment for your children. It's not really designed for that."

Merritt feels this type of study can help parents to better grasp their own kids' Internet activity, "to understand what's normal, what's not normal, what's typical."

"If your children were searching for something like this Fred character (from YouTube), and you didn't know what it was, it might confuse you," she said. "But I think the study sets some expectations from parents that 'my child is looking to be entertained.' On the other hand, if you saw that your child is looking up porn, and you became very upset, this might show you that actually it's a very common thing for kids to be doing. And you should be reassured that there's nothing really wrong with your child. Rather, this should be an opportunity for a teachable moment."

OnlineFamily.Norton lets parents see what pages their kids are viewing and what links they're clicking after entering search terms, like the ones on the top 100 list. So parents can see what their children intended do to as well as where they ended up.

The service is geared toward kids from ages 8 to 13, which Merritt believes is a critical age range for children on the Internet. "A lot of parents think the most dangerous things their kids are going to encounter are when they're in high school, which is dead wrong," she noted. "If you can get your kids on a path of good Internet behavior when they're in elementary school before the critical middle school time, you'll have much greater success with your children and their expectations around their Internet lives."

A partnership
Merritt also sees the service as triggering more of a partnership between kids and parents. She says that parents can establish house rules over what sites their kids can or cannot access. "It's very open. Kids always know that the product is monitoring them. A little icon will pop up that says this breaks the house rules, identifies which rule, and it allows the child to send a message to the parent to explain, or the kid can back out of it, not realizing that this was a bad Web site."

The OnlineFamily.Norton Web site offers further tips for parents on how to use the service with their children.

To compile the list, Symantec tracked 3.5 million searches run by registered users of OnlineFamily.Norton from February 2009 (when the service was first released as a beta) through July 2009. Each term had to be submitted at least 50 times to make the list.

[biffhenerson]

Your analysis is severely flawed. One can not deduce that a child is making the inquiries simply based on the fact that the computer is running in a certain mode. The computer may be in "child" mode even though an adult is browsing. One may be able to look at an entire session of browsing and perhaps see a pattern that is more consistant with children. A single search for a term tells us nothing.

[marianmerritt]

Hi,
This is Marian from Symantec/Norton. Although you could use it in a single account mode and combine all the computer activity into one report, most people align it with the accounts (Windows and Mac) so they can see what Susie does versus what Johnny does.

Hope this was helpful,
Marian

[Lerianis3]

Well, the fact is that most families today are not thinking anymore that sex is 'harmful to children'. That's the bottom line thing: many families are FINALLY realizing that sex is normal and natural from birth (judging from the fact that we have FULLY FUNCTIONAL genitalia from birth, save for reproduction), and simply going with the flow.

It's the law, the churches, and the politicians who are seriously behind the times.

[biffhenerson]

Marian you make my point for me. Just because the computer is logged on as Susie doesnt mean that its not actually Johnny at the keyboard. Or perhaps Dad. Who is signed on does not in any way determine who is at the keyboard. Given that possibility, the research is flawed.

[sting7k]

How exactly can they determine the age of a computer user?

[Vista_Boy_Intel]

They cant, for all we know Symantec was tracking a 40 year old man using his kids account

[marianmerritt]

hi,
This is Marian Merritt from Symantec/Norton. The way we determine the age is from the accounts (both Windows and Mac) tied to the program. The parents are asked to identify each child for each account and provide their date of birth. That allows the program to set a baseline of recommended settings, which are very easy to customize.

hope this helps.
Marian

[man_w_balls]

It must be weird to grow up in an age where any question about the "secret grown up things" can be answered definitively by the mighty Oracle we call the Internet. Maybe it's good, and kids will be smarter; or maybe it's bad, and kids will be warped.

[Lerianis3]

One person's 'warped' is another person's normal. The fact is that 'warped', unless you are talking about someone who gets their jollies by forcibly raping someone or cutting someone up into little pieces, is a matter of viewpoint that shouldn't come into these discussions unless you are willing to admit all YOUR deep dark secrets.

[tektaktyks]

umm...Fred? lol

[EvanSei]

what haven't you heard he is huge on you tube :)

[tektaktyks]

yea i searched for fred and i found some kid on utube,that must be it

[Dasfwa]

Why are kids searching for .
1.YouTube
2. Google
3. Facebook
5. MySpace
7. Yahoo
10. eBay
Can't they just go to these sites?

[ternovoygarri]

because it looks like a simplier way to get desired site through search engine - although it needs make a couple more clicks

maybe users don't know, they may not add www. or http:\\ prefixes or .com, .org, .net... suffixes for domain name in case of newer browsers - but not in ie6 or ie5 - which are default beginners browsers - and very limitated in terms of usability

there should be some tips on start page - how to use browser in more efficient way

[tektaktyks]

so what do they use to search for google and yahoo?

[marianmerritt]

Hi,
The parent sets up each child with a Windows account and then OnlineFamily.Norton uses those to set Rules. There are standard settings based upon the child's age (which the parent provides to the program) but everything is customizable.

Biff - you are right, if people don't use the accounts, then everyone's web activity is mixed together. But the account owner (parent) can still see all web traffic, searches, social networking logins and so forth. Some families use the program that way and block only sites that are deemed inappropriate for the whole family: porn, gambling, hate sites, etc.

Why don't kids go to the sites? They've learned this method of using search engines if they don't know if a site is a .com or a .net or how to spell it. It seems odd to me as well but I've confirmed this behavior with teachers and children directly. Go figure!

It's a free service, it's easy to use, it allows a parent to log in from any web browser and see combined account activity from up to 10 computers, whether PC or Mac.

If you want to learn more, go to the website: www.onlinefamily.norton.com and read the articles or view the video.

[CindyBlake78]

Hi there,
I found this free search engine for kids called "Surf Knight". It does not have as much content as say Google but, I don't think my kids will be seeing inappropriate sites through this. You don't need a fancy software like Norton to block access to sites. Surf Knight also has a blocker software.

[Lerianis3]

Which any kid who is at ALL knowledgeable about computers will be able to subvert in ten seconds! The fact is that you are going to have to realize that children are going to find out about sex, violence, etc. and keep an OPEN DIALOGUE with them and make their OWN choices about those things and whether they are okay for them.... well, everything except the violence thing, which is NOT okay in reality but is everywhere else.

[Dizzywood]

Fascinating finds! I agree that this research is important for parents to understand what is typical for their kids to search on the internet. Kids are, of course, curious, the internet can easily answer many of their questions. What I find particularly interesting is how often kids search websites instead of typing them into the browser (ex. YouTube, Google). It's like a long shortcut, a real oxymoron.

[Momblogger]

This is a more serious problem than most parents think, especially on devices like iPod Touch that kids can use from anywhere without supervision. I have setup an internet filtering and monitoring service on my daughter's iTouch from www.mobicip.com. It seems to work pretty effectively, and I can see the web activity logs. Check it out.

[jonathangilbert]

i think that england has become controlling of this subject. i went to portugal a few weeks ago and in a show, with children as young as 5, it had mild nudity . but they were laughing quite happily at something that most people here would find utterly offensive. sex and nudity shouldn't be something that people shy away from. people should be more open with questions

[biffhenerson]

Letting your kid use the internet is like dropping them off on the streets of South LA at 11 PM. Parents are idiots. The parents have no clue where little Johnny goes or that little Suzie is sending everyone pictures of her breasts. Doenst matter if the computer is in the kitchen or bedroom, the little dudes wait until the time is right then do their naughty. Installing montitoring tools can help get the parents get involved but they have to be careful before grounding Johnny because it might have been Dad looking at the boobs or sending nasty letters to the whitehouse. Just because the computer was signed on as Johnny means little.