If more than 80 percent of children surveyed receive spam, almost half the surveyed children get porn spam and aren't exactly thrilled about it, according to a study done by Symantec Corporation, makers of the popular Norton Anti-Virus and System Works computer software programs.
"(K)ids are just as susceptible as adults to being bombarded by spam advertising inappropriate products and services, such as Viagra and pornographic materials," said Symantec senior vice president Steve Cullen. "Parents need to educate their children about the dangers of spam and how they can avoid being exposed to offensive content or becoming innocent victims of online fraud."
Released June 9, the Symantec survey involved a thousand youths from seven to 18 and measured their spam experience and their concerns about receiving spam, the company said. Applied Research conducted the survey under Symantec's impetus.
Eighty percent of the kids surveyed said they usually get hit with sweepstakes spam suggesting prizes like Playstation game systems. Sixty-two percent said they got relationship-related spam like meeting singles online, 61 percent said they got finance-related spam like cut-rate mortgages, 55 percent said they'd gotten weight-loss spam, 51 percent said they'd gotten pharmaceutical spam including Viagra, and 47 percent said they got spam with links to porn sites, Symantec said.
Adult Sites Against Child Pornography executive director Joan Irvine said she was pleased not only with the care taken in doing the survey but that Symantec, unlike other researchers, didn't automatically look to pin the blame tail on the adult industry's donkey.
"Many times they are not as scrupulous with their numbers," she said of similar surveys. But the way Symantec honestly noted the large numbers of kids who complained about sweepstakes, relationships, finance, health, and pharmaceutical spam, compared to the less than half who complained about getting porn spam, showed Irvine that Symantec was looking to do an honest survey about a problem that isn't strictly emanating from adult entertainment.
The kids surveyed were anything but comfortable about the spam in general, even if 21 percent of them opened and read the spam and 16 percent of those went especially by subjects that interested them otherwise, the company continued. But as uneasy as they might feel, Symantec said, they often didn't communicate their unease to their parents.
In fact, the company added, one in three kids surveyed actually said they still weren't sure whether spam was good or bad for them, and 22 percent said their parents never talked to them about spam. "When asked how important it is to always have mom or dad check emails with them, nearly one in three said it is not important, 21 percent said they don't care and 16 percent said they don't want their parents to check their emails with them," Symantec said. "Furthermore, when asked whether they get parents' permission before giving out their personal email addresses to friends or even people and Web sites with which they are not familiar, 46 percent of the youths responded that they do not."
The survey also suggested most kids spend more time online in summer than the regular school year, and 75 percent of those surveyed used the Internet mostly to send and receive e-mail.
"Communicate with your children," Symantec said, while also cautioning parents not to get too overprotective. "It is important to speak truthfully with your kids about inappropriate Web content, such as pornographic spam emails. Encourage them to confide in you when they see improper text or graphics. Teach your children to never give out personal information while surfing on the Internet. Malicious e-marketers target kids for private information, such as their name, address, telephone number and family interests."
"It's not that children should be receiving any X rated e-mails, but it shows, to me, that the adult industry is more scrupulous about unsolicited e-mails than other people," Irvine said. "Yet the blame because of the content is (usually) put on adult spam. Symantec did a good job of presenting their findings, although they did then go right into talking about inappropriate spam, and then I think they did a very good job of informing parents of their responsibility."
