Article #4 from Required Blogs

On ClickZ Stats, I found a very interesting and surprising article about kids and the internet. "Kids' Chores Turn Wired" discusses how parents are assigning children to various tasks that are performed on the internet, such as looking up driving directions. I was absolutely shocked to read that 14% of children (ages 8 to 14) have helped parents complete their taxes online. I would never trust a child with my taxes, and I know my parents wouldn't trust me doing theirs, either. The statistic that was the most surprising to me was that 77% of kids have shopped online, and 10% have a credit card they shopped with. I have definitely purchased items online before with my parents' credit cards, but I didn't know it was even legal for such young kids to use one. Lastly, I was also intrigued by the fact that 26% of kids spend 3+ hours online per day. I loved going online when I was in that age group, but I also had a decent amount of homework and sports practices that filled my time.