An article on this website shows a study on theft and use of SSNs of minors. Horrible, but true. Not only are you as an adult, at risk, but your kids are too. The article does mention that some cases are parents using their kid's SSN to get stupid things like water and electricity, but that isn't always the case.
The author doesn't say if kids are more at risk, but the answer should be obvious. The bad guys are always looking for new ways to steal. When we catch on to something, they find a different avenue. Now that us adults have taken checking our credit into our own hands, thieves are targeting kids, who, well. . . let's face it, have no reason to even have a credit history, let alone check it. So, what's the answer?
Well, the web site provides a link to a site which says lookups are free, but registration is required, and it is a privately-owned "Identity Theft Protection" company, which means they may change their mind at any point and begin charging for this service, even though they say that it is free. Is there another solution?
Not sure. currently, we are allowed a free lookup of our credit history once per year, for all 3 credit bureaus. I'm assuming this is through an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (any lawyers out there?) Maybe another amendment is in order, allowing parents to perform credit lookups once per year on their credit history as well as the credit history of any dependents they may have. I think I'll be writing my congress representative this evening and hopefully putting the system to work for me.
