The researchers have found out that children in Britain, Poland, Bulgaria, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, the Netherlands and Norway are in the group at the highest risk mainly because children in those countries use the internet more often.

"Our study has found that greater use of the internet results in more exposure to risk," says one of the-authors - Dr Leslie Haddon. Haddon, however, rejects the theory that using the web more makes children better at avoiding risk.

The study of children's internet habits looked at whether they were likely to be exposed to online aggression, breaches of privacy or to see inappropriate material when surfing the web.

The report - Comparing Children's Online Opportunities and Risks across Europe was funded by the European Union and included 7,393 children in 21 countries.

Results showed that almost one in four British youngsters has received unwanted sexual comments online compared to one in 10 in Ireland and Germany, the report said.

The main reason cited by the report is that children in Britain were more likely to be internet users than their European neighbors and tended to go online younger - many from the age of six. 45% of UK children who were surveyed used the web and e-mail at home while 58% used them at school. Around 40% of British children questioned owned a mobile phone, including 3% of children under six.

The full text of the BBC article can be found at:
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=97349