Don’t know what to buy for your children this Christmas? A recent survey by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky found that games overwhelmingly capture the interest of children, with 44% of children internet search requests being related to games. The Korean-wave is also popular among children as nearly half of music requests (48%) were k-pop related.
Survey participants included users of Kaspersky Safe Kids, a parental control app that helps parents protect their children from cyberthreats. Results were drawn from anonymised metadata voluntarily provided by users of the app from 25 October to 26 November 2020. These consist of search requests made by children via Bing, Google, Mail.ru, Yahoo, Yandex and YouTube more than 100 times.
“There is a popular saying on the internet – ‘Google knows more about you than your mother does’, which sounds ridiculously true. Knowing what your children search for can help parents understand their needs better, consider their intentions and even become a better friend,” says Anna Larkina, web content analysis expert at Kaspersky.
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Of the galaxy of games available today, children were especially keen on Roblox (23%), Among Us (21%) and Minecraft (20%). Gacha Life and Fortnite were also popular, with 16% and 11% of users making searches related to both games.
Among gaming consoles, Nitendo Switch was a surprise leader with 42% of searches despite new generation consoles that have recently come to market. Playstation commanded 36% of children’s searches while Xbox drew 22% of searches. The most desirable Nitendo Switch games were Mario, Animal Crossing and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
In the K-pop space, boyband BTS and girl group Blackpink dominate with 58% and 42% of searches respectively. In total, 14% of searches were related to music.
“Kaspersky experts recommend parents consider checking out K-pop merchandise shops for clothing, supplies for school or some cute souvenirs, or to even purchase a Korean textbook if a child is really keen on Korean culture,” says a firm press release.
But the more things change, the more things stay the same - toys remain popular with children this holiday season. And children’s tastes in toys have proven remarkably “old-school” despite being born smack in the middle of the digital age.
Notably, more than half of “toys” search requests were for LEGO, with children searching for special editions sets related to their favourite game or character. Children are keen on Among Us, Harry Potter, Minecraft and Star Wars LEGO sets, while LEGO’s in-house lines, Ninjago, Technic, City and Friends are popular too. Barbie (22%), Playmobil sets (11%) and L.O.L. Surprise! dolls (8%) are in the chasing pack.
Some parents may see their children’s significant interest in games as a worrying trend. There are understandable concerns about children withdrawing from families and friends, losing interest in other activities or even developing an addiction. But Kaspersky urges parents not to “jump to conclusions” if their children spends too much time on video games.
“They could be in a situation when he or she is not satisfied with the real world and needs your support. Instead of limiting the amount of time they can spend playing games, you can help them solve problems (for example, at school or with other family relatives),” says the Kaspersky press release. The firm also encourages parents to form common interests with their children such as shared games or television series to deepen the parent-child relationship.
