Youth group gives web safety warning

THE VAST majority of 11 to 15-year-olds have viewed adult material online, according to research by a youth protection charity.

La Voix de l'Enfant asked more than 30,000 collégiens about their internet usage, and found 87% had come across pornography, although only 17% had told their parents about this.

According to the group's research, 97% of secondary school pupils have web access at home, and half have an internet-enabled computer in their own bedroom.

More than three quarters of respondents said they used the internet for instant messaging, two-thirds downloaded music and films, and a third said they used the web to keep up with the news.

Half of those questioned said they had been approached by strangers on instant messenger.

La Voix de l'Enfant found that about a quarter of computers in homes had a parental filter on them, controlling which sites their children can access.

The group's research is based on 33,418 face-to-face interviews with collège pupils across France aged 11 to 15.

Meanwhile, new figures from web measurement firm Médiamétrie reveal almost a third of people in France have never used the internet.

Some 16.4 million people, mostly women, over-65s and people out of work, did not use the web. A third of these said they had the intention of getting connected at some point.