KIDS AND TEENS TAKE TO INTERNET SHOPPING.

Byline: Ben Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer

As if parents don't have enough to worry about when it comes to the Internet, a new study reported Monday that online marketers are increasingly targeting youths as a back door to mom and dad's pocketbook.

According to the study by the Internet research firm Jupiter Communications, teens and children ages 5 to 12 are the fastest-growing segment of online users. And by 2002, Jupiter projects, they'll be spending more than $1.3 billion per year in online transactions, 10 times current levels.

To get their hands on all that extra cash, marketers of everything from toys to video games to clothing are going after young people at sites youngsters visit most. And youths, in turn, are coming to adults for money to buy all the goodies.

``Instead of grabbing parents' coat sleeves, today's digital kids ask . . . for credit card numbers in place of an allowance and buy products online,'' said Anya Sacharow, an analyst with Jupiter's Consumer Content Strategies division.

Not surprisingly, parents are uneasy with the phenomenon. Jupiter's study found 45 percent of parents surveyed said they were concerned about online advertising aimed at young people, compared to just 17 percent a year ago.

Robert Butterworth, a Los Angeles psychologist who specializes in teens and culture, said the Jupiter results should come as no surprise to anyone who has watched the blossoming of the Internet.

``The pressure is on,'' Butterworth said. ``E-commerce has trickled down to kids, and they're being pushed to spend money online.''

What makes youths especially attractive to marketers is their comfort with the Internet, Butterworth said. ``To all these kids it's second nature. The fact that you're putting your credit card number out there doesn't bother them at all,'' he said.

The Jupiter study found that 67 percent of online teens and 37 percent of online kids have researched or bought goods online, proving that today's youths ``see the Internet as a preferred tool for information gathering,'' Sacharow said. ``Commerce is a natural progression.''

But youths and online shopping do not mix, as witnessed last month when a New Jersey eighth-grader bid nearly $3 million on Internet auction site eBay.com for items ranging from a Van Gogh painting to a 1955 red Ford convertible.

While extreme, the case shows the disconnect that can exist between young people and money, industry observers say.

``In a way it's like magic money for them,'' said Andrew De Vries, director of marketing for Wired Digital, and producer of Webmonkey for Kids, a youth-oriented Internet site. ``Because they can't see (the money) or feel it, everything seems less expensive to them.''

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