January 8, 2010
Where Kids Go Online
Ever wonder what your kids are looking for online? Hint: It’s not the name of the 26th president. In fact, because kids use search engines like Google to explore, your kids’ online queries may never show up when you check their browser histories. So how can you manage what you can’t see?
Norton Family Online's Top 100 Searches of 2009
Luckily, Norton Family Online, a free family safety service that helps protect kids online and fosters dialogue between parents and children about their online activities, compiled an eye-opening list of the top 100 searches done by kids in 2009. Since they had access to more than 14.5 million queries by kids, we have total faith that the results are not only accurate, but also a great window for parents into the average kid’s online curiosities.
The Results
Norton looked at the top 100 searches conducted by kids age 18 and under and also broke down results by age and gender. (For the complete list, click here). Here are a few highlights:
- YouTube, Google, and Facebook topped the lists for both boys and girls.
- Searches for “sex” and “porn” came in at #4 and #5 for boys.
- For girls, “Taylor Swift” edged out “sex” for slot #4, dropping “sex” to #5.
- “Sex” was the #4 search for teens and tweens, but “porn” was the #4 most searched term for kids 7 and under.
- Teens love Swift, but tweens and kids under 7 sought out Michael Jackson.
- 35% of teens and 27% tweens spent their search time on music-related subjects like Chris Brown, Rihanna, and Lady Gaga.
- Kids under 7 spent most of their time checking out sites like Limewire and Mininova -- sites that offer “free” but mostly illegal downloads.
- Social networking sites were in the top five of every age group. Facebook and MySpace for teens, and Club Penguin for both tweens and kids 7 and under.
