Archive for October 18th, 2007
The on line kids of Oz
October 18, 2007Information and communications technology - especially Australia’s need for a new broadband network - is getting more attention lately in the run-up to the federal election which will be held in November.
Too bad kids can’t vote. Slow though Internet service is here compared to the speeds customers enjoy in many other countries, 92 percent of Aussie kids between the ages of six and 17 have logged onto the web and most of them logged on for the first time before they were 10. Forty-three percent log on daily.
These eye-opening statistics come from an article in “The Australian” newspaper by Ben Woodhead who is quoting, he says, from “Nielsen/NetRatings’ 2007 Australia eGeneration Report.” I was unable to find that report on line, but then, I didn’t have a child to help me.
Adjacent to Woodhead’s report is a story by Fran Foo detailing a Microsoft video aimed at educating parents about the use of pornography filters. Microsoft says that when the filters are ineffective it’s usually not a software problem.
The problem seems to be that kids know more about computers than their parents think they do. They’re getting administrator rights without their parents’ knowledge. If you want to know what that means or how it’s done, ask someone between six and 17.