Children 'ignore safety rules on social networking sites'

A British watchdog, Ofcom, has warned that millions of children who use Internet social networking sites are exposing themselves to unnecessary risk.

It published research that shows 40% of children do not use privacy settings on the sites to restrict access to their personal information. Also, it claimed that age restrictions on sites like Bebo, Myspace and Facebook were being bypassed by children as young as 8. Ofcom Director of Market Research James Thickett said in remarks reported on Reuters, that parents should check the online profile their children are using;

It is really advisable that your child's profile is restricted to people that they know,

he continued;

"The problem is that there is a lack of awareness of the risks involved, especially among children.

However, the survey was not always negative and it did say that social networking could have some benefits for children. Thickett said that;

For some children they can be a real confidence builder. They allow children to adopt a persona they might be too shy to adopt in the playground."