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Survey: Four Out of Five Kids Receive Inappropriate eMail According to a recent survey reported in eSchool News, more than 80 percent of school-age children receive unsolicited, commercial email--on a daily basis! The survey polled 1000 children, ages 7-18, and found that they are constantly bombarded with electronic solicitations "...for everything from bogus online sweepstakes and shady investment ventures to discounted Viagra and hardcore pornography". Over a third of those who were uncomfortable with spam, do not tell their parents. The survey also found that nearly half of those surveyed disclose personally identifiable information, and do not check with their parents first. Another survey of children in 2000, reported in the Los Angeles Times, found that 80% of kids had private email accounts, but only two-thirds of parents were aware of that. A 2001 survey of 1500 kids by Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, reported that nearly 1 in 5 respondents had received an unwanted sexual solicitation. Of those, 97% came from strangers, and 25% were directed at children under the age of 13. Several bills have been introduced in Washington designed to control spam. In the meantime, Symantec offers five suggestions to parents:
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