Oh no, our world’s children are succumbing to the perils of the World Wide Web. A new survey of 19,000 parents worldwide said their kids browse porn as early as age six and begin e-flirting at eight years old. The news comes from Bitdefender, a Bucharest-based antivirus company, that compiled the results from talking with parents and monitoring which sites parents block.
The Internet-addicted generation is also using instant messaging services and playing video games at younger ages than ever before, Bitdefender said. The survey found kids playing video games as young as five, and 17 percent of those surveyed registered for social media sites at 10 years old. Those sneaky kids also figured out that they could get around several sites’ 13-year-old minimum age by–get this!–lying about their ages.
The study said that another “hot destination” for kids online for when they’re not flirting are alleged “hate” websites where kids are allowed to–cover your ears–swear and be dicks to each other. So, 4Chan?
A Bitdefender spokesperson told USA Today that kids are getting increasingly sneakier:
“Kids nowadays are acting like young adults online — just give them an Internet-connected device, and they will find a way to things parents would like to ban forever,” says Bitdefender Chief Security Strategist Catalin Cosoi.
Just wait until they get on OKCupid. Shiver.