Study warns of dangers of internet use among teens

Social networking dangers among Irish teenagers are going largely unaddressed, according to the most recent study in the Irish Medical Journal.

The survey aimed to determine general patterns of internet usage among Irish teenagers aged 11 to 16 years and was carried out by experts at Tallaght Hospital in Dublin.

It found that only 2% of children said that they were supervised while using the internet in their home.

Up to 28% say their parents place limitations on usage, but just under half of these also had access on their mobile phones.

What's more, 16% of males and 5% of females stated they had bullied, or purposely excluded others, through social media sites.

Among those who felt they had been bullied themselves, 45% of males and 8% of females said they had in turn bullied others.

Meanwhile, a third of children mentioned that they had been made to feel uncomfortable in their use of a social media site.

The report also says that 37% of these cases could be accounted for by adult actions.

It adds that the data suggests a substantial proportion of children are not supervised while using the internet and that parental limitation on use is "minimal".