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Rukmini Priyadarshini

BANGALORE, June 11

MORE than 80 per cent of children who use e-mail receive inappropriate spam on a daily basis, according to a survey by Symantec Corporation.

In addition, half the kids surveyed reported feeling uncomfortable and offended when seeing improper e-mail content.

The online survey of a thousand youths between the ages of 7 and 18, measured their experience with spam as well as their concerns about receiving unsolicited e-mail, according to a release.

``As with any e-mail user, kids are just as susceptible as adults to being bombarded by spam advertising inappropriate products and services, such as Viagra and pornographic materials,'' according to Symantec. 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.

When asked what kind of spam e-mails they received, 80 per cent of the respondents said they were bombarded by sweepstakes messages such as ``win a Playstation,''; 62 per cent received relationship-related spam such as `meet singles online,' 61 per cent had seen finance-related spam offering cut-rate mortgages or homes for sale; 55 per cent hade read weight-loss messages such as `lose 15 pounds in two days; 51 per cent had received pharmaceutical sales pitches such as `buy herbal Viagra online,' and 47 per cent e-mails with links to X-rated Web sites.

Most importantly, about one in every five kids (21 per cent) open and read spam e-mails, especially the ones with a subject line that interest them (16 per cent), according to the survey.

The survey also shows that youth feel uneasy when seeing inappropriate spam e-mail content. Often times, they do not even communicate their negative feelings about spam to their parents. Further evidence indicates that not every child has a clear understanding of spam, according to the survey. Although 89 per cent of the kids surveyed responded that they had heard of spam, nearly one in three still do not know whether spam is good or bad for them. In addition, 22 per cent of respondents said that their parents had never talked to them about spam.

The Symantec survey discloses that most of the youths surveyed have personal e-mail accounts and more than half of these kids check email without their parents' guidance. The findings show that 76 per cent of the kids studied have one or more e-mail accounts. When asked how often they check e-mails, 72 per cent of the respondents said a few times a week to a few times a day.

Results of the study also confirm that kids spend more time online during their summer vacation compared to during a regular school season — 44 per cent of youth spend an average of more than two hours a day online on a summer day.

Apart from installing spam-filtering software, Symantec suggests that parental monitoring, communication and building trust with children can address the issue. Further, children must be taught not to give out personal information and encourage them to confide when they receive inappropriate communications, says Symantec.

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