1 in 10 kids having sex chats online

18 July 2008 11:10 GMT / By Katie Scott

A new report claims that more than 10% of British children are having sexually explicit conversations online.

And their parents, unsurprisingly, don't know.

The annual Mobile Life report, which was commissioned by the Carphone Warehouse and the London School of Economics, says that 11% of children aged 11 to 18 have had sexually explicit conversations online.

And 28% admitted that they have accessed adult websites.

The report also highlighted how parents are completely unaware of what their children are viewing online, which, as well as looking at porn sites, can also be talking to strangers online.

Kids admitted that they will sometimes pretend to be doing their homework while they are, in fact, surfing the web, with 49% saying that they lie to their parents about what they are doing online.

The report, which took in 6000 respondents, also investigated the behaviour of UK children as compared to those in the US.

And British kids were revealed to be more tech savvy.

Over half of British youngsters have communicated by webcam, while this figure is just 18% for their American counterparts.

British kids also text far more with 50% sending more than six messages every day.

Dr Tanya Byron, who contributed to the report as well as being thre author of a government-sponsored report that looked into childrens' safety online said that this latest survey highlights how parents need educating.

"I think the key is for parents to treat the issue of online safety in the same way that they would approach other potential danger areas. Would you let your children learn how to cross the road via trial and error?"

"No, you teach them the Green Cross Code. Now, with the increasing importance of wireless technology and the role it plays in our children's lives, we must all learn and teach the Online Safety Code."

Full tags

Software, Online, Statistics, Byron report