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35 per cent Indian teenagers access porn

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Supriya Rai
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NEW DELHI, INDIA: A study called 'Secret Life of Teens' conducted by TNS, for Internet security company McAfee, a subsidiary of chipmaker Intel, reveals the digital divide between Indian teenagers and their parents. The finding based on 1500 teens reaffirm that online behavior of children should be monitored by parents.

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The study points out that teens spend 3.6 hours on the Internet and use devices such as smartphones (45 per cent), desktops (32 per cent) and laptops (15 per cent). The report also reveals that 39 per cent of the children clear the browsing history while 24 per cent use private browsing modes. 17 per cent of the surveyed teens admitted of having fake social network profile while 16 per cent have disabled parental controls.

The study also highlights that 23.6 per cent boys posted revealing images as compared to 14.6 per cent girls. 39.4 per cent boys and 33.2 per cent girls do access Websites that parents wouldn't approve. 26.5 children pirate music or movies in comparison to girls at 18.1 per cent.

The finding also makes a mention that 38 per cent of children access Internet for homework. 35 per cent teens admitted accessing porn or nudity willingly, while 53 per cent have an accidental access to explicit content by clicking an advertisement.

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McAfee consumer marketing director (APAC) Melanie Duca said that Indian teens are very active on social networks. With the growing mobile and tablet adoption among youth, Duca said it would remain as one of their key focus areas.

 

The polls said that teens spend 86 per cent of their time on Facebook, 54 per cent on Twitter, 52 per cent on Google+, Skype (45 per cent) and Orkut (34 per cent). The study also discloses that they open account on social networking sites at an average age of 13.

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"Our company is dedicated to make Internet safe by providing resources to help educate and protect families," she added. India is tier-1 market for McAfee. "The company will also conduct similar studies in the UK, Brazil, Spain and other EU nations by early next year," Duca informed.

"Arming kids with the information they need and talking even more openly about the risks involved and how to deal with them is a key to new age parenting," said McAfee Cybermom India Anindita Mishra.

Parents, she said, generally rely on their kids even to install protection solutions which is not a good phenomenon. "With the recent cases such as infamous Malini's in Bangalore and Delhi MMS which went viral, one has to be careful what to do online," Mishra added.

McAfee VP (APAC) for consumer and small business Steve Perchard said that it's difficult to manage teens at home, while he believes that consumers' behavior is changing. "We are engaged in awareness and educational programs, and technology as well as have community involvement.

Perchard said that McAfee is the largest security solutions company that helps clean networks, intercepts threats and offers right end-point solutions for PC, Mac, tablet and Smartphone as well as provides comprehensive remedies. The company has also introduced McAfee Family Protection for one year free subscription for Indian parents.

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