News 

The survey, carried out by online identity research firm Garlik, shows that 26 per cent of parents have set up their own online profile to spy on their kids, while 25 per cent secretly log in to their child's account.

"That parents feel compelled to monitor their children on this scale should send a powerful message to the big social networking sites," said Tom Ilube, CEO at Garlik. "With three quarters of a million underage users in the UK, Facebook, MySpace and Bebo need to take their own age restriction policies far more seriously to help allay parents' real fears."

British kids spend an average of an hour a day on online social networking, claim Garlik, and 26 per cent off eight to 15 year olds admit they have strangers in their 'friends' lists.

One in five kids admitted that they have met up with strangers they had only previously encountered online and two in three said they post

ADVERTISEMENT

personal information online such as which school they attend and their mobile telephone number.

"Children are at the vanguard of the social networking phenomenon, using sites such as Facebook and Bebo in the same way other generations used the telephone," said Ilube.

A report published by Parliament's Culture, Media and Sport Committee, has called for tighter controls online to protect the public from the "dark side" of the internet, but has left it in the hands of the websites to enforce their own initiatives and self-regulate.

"With the summer holidays upon us and kids spending hours on the internet, busy parents can't be expected to monitor their children's activities all the time. The recent proposals... could go a long way to safeguarding children online, but in the meantime, what are Facebook, Bebo, MySpace and the others doing to help?"

In fairness, Facebook has recently followed Myspace's suit by implementing 60 safety measures to prevent cyberbullying and thwart online predators, in a scheme run in conjunction with the US government.

Nonetheless, 58 per cent of British parents claim they are now more diligent than they were a year ago when it comes to monitoring the use if social networking sites. 89 per cent say they have spoken to their children about the dangers posed by social networking site.