Children fuel internet explosion

A survey of 8 European countries conducted by Nielsen/NetRatings has found that the number of children online in Europe has risen by a third in a year. Twelve months ago, approximately 10 million of those under the age of 18 in Europe were using the web, e-mail, and instant messaging; that number has grown to 13.1 million. The largest jump occurred in the UK, where 4.5 million children now regularly log on to the Internet (an increase of more than 50% in a year). This compares to 3 million children in Germany and 1.5 million in France, the UK's 2 nearest rivals. Other countries included in the survey were Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, and the Netherlands.

One analyst explained, "It's likely that this is linked with the growth of broadband access. Perhaps when they're not paying for access by the minute, parents are likely to let children use and explore the web more."

According to the survey, many children are visiting the same sites adults do. One of the most popular sites is neopets.com, but the search engine Google.com, the research site About.com, and the file-sharing network Kazaa are also popular destinations for teenagers.

Children's charities have responded to the findings with concern in light of the presence of paedophiles preying on children online. In September 2003, Microsoft said it would close its free and unsupervised chatrooms, citing worries about child safety. One policy advisor quoted in the article notes that, while the Internet can be a powerful educational tool, "parents should continue to monitor their children's activities and the amount of time they spend on the internet, especially if they are using chatrooms."

Click here for the full article on the BBC News site.