A generation of young people in Britain is effectively being "raised online" by spending their free time on internet sites such as Facebook and MySpace, a report said today.
Research by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) suggests many teenagers are spending more than 20 hours a week online, staying up into the early hours of the morning and leaving their mobile phones on all night in case they receive a text message.
It warns a lack of parental knowledge and understanding means that few have any idea about what their children are doing online. This new research, titled Behind the Screen: the Hidden Life of Youthand published next month, comes ahead of the final report of the Byron Review of children and new technology, set up by Gordon Brown in 2007 and headed by Dr Tanya Byron.
The report argues that with children being "raised online" the government and internet companies need to do more to protect them from inappropriate content and to promote and enforce guidelines on the limits of acceptable behaviour.
Kay Withers, IPPR research fellow and report author, said: "The internet offers great benefits and opportunities for young people. But with kids spending an ever-increasing amount of time online, parents need to be reassured about what they are looking at.
"Government needs to improve media literacy programmes for kids and to make sure parents are aware of how they can support young people's positive online experiences.
"But more importantly internet companies need to take more responsibility for the content on their sites and promote acceptable behaviour."
The report found four out of five children aged five to 15 have access to the internet at home. Almost half of children (49 per cent) between aged eight and 11, and eight out of ten aged 12 to 15 have their own mobile phone. More than two-thirds (71 per cent) of 12 to 15s say they mostly use the internet unsupervised at home. It says that while many websites have their own guidelines, these are not always properly enforced. The researchers found that on YouTube, a search for the term "happy slap" delivered 117 videos posted in the last week and "street fight" 312 videos.
The report found 57 per cent of children have reported having come into contact with pornography on the internet, most of it accidentally such as in the form of pop-up adverts, and a quarter had received pornographic spam (junk emails).
The report will recommend that Britain's communication industry regulator Ofcom should produce an annual report on the effectiveness of initiatives aimed at tackling harmful internet content. It says internet sites popular with young people, such as social networking sites MySpace and Bebo and video-sharing website YouTube, should develop industry guidelines setting out the limits of what young people can expect and how young people are expected to behave in return.
It also recommends parents should be given help to learn how to use the internet so they can ensure their children are not being exposed to "unnecessary risks" online.
Unlike television programmes, internet content is not subject to any legal restrictions such as the Obscene Publications Act, Sexual Offences Act, and laws relating to race hatred, defamation and libel.
The Byron Review was set up in September 2007 by the prime minister. Headed by Dr Tanya Byron the review is examining the risks to children from exposure to potentially harmful or inappropriate material on the internet and in video games. The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee is currently conducting an inquiry into the potential risks from harmful material on the internet and in video games.
PA