Children ignore online dangers

[7 August 2008]

A fifth of British children have met up with a stranger they first came across online.

Furthermore, one in four children aged 8 to 12 ignore the age restrictions on social networking websites such as Facebook, Bebo and MySpace. The survey studied 1,030 parents and 1,000 children, and found that a quarter of the parents surveyed secretly log-on to their child's social networking page to check they aren't talking to strangers. 55% of parents said they are more vigilant online now than they were a year ago. Two-thirds of the young people questioned said they posted personal information on their social networking pages, including the name of the school they go to and their mobile phone number.

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