MORE than half of children using the internet have had an "unwanted experience" online as the trend of using social networking sites increases, a new poll has found.
The report for the NSPCC found 50.4 per cent of children had had such an experience, which could mean anything from being bullied or threatened to being asked to perform sexual acts.
More than half of children (52 per cent) now use sites like Beb
o and MySpace at least once a day, according to the poll, heightening their exposure to those who abuse them for their own ends.
The top reason cited by young people for logging on to the sites was to make new friends and to link up with people they already knew.
But the survey for children's charity the NSPCC also showed almost 60 per cent of children use them to avoid feeling isolated and 53 per cent use them to share their problems.
The use of the internet as a social aid for children has accelerated in the last two years, becoming an essential cultural accessory for youngsters.
Promotion of new music through personal websites has gained considerable momentum.
Lily Allen, the Arctic Monkeys and the Libertines have all used the internet to bypass traditional methods of marketing, giving their music a subcultural cool to impressionable teens and drawing them more and more to the web.
The findings of the online poll of 2,053 children mostly aged between 11 to 16 are revealed today, as this year's "Don't Hide It" campaign is launched.
The campaign aims to encourage children to speak out about all forms of abuse perpetrated through social networking sites, following on from last year's campaign about sexual abuse.
NSPCC director and chief executive Dame Mary Marsh said: "Children face real threats on the internet such as sexual grooming, cyber-bullying, exposure to violent, pornographic and other unsuitable material and being lured into dangerous real-world situations.
"Online social networking is part of millions of children's lives. We must recognise and respond to this reality by helping them to be safer online as well as helping them speak out about abuse at the same time."
Children worried about abuse are advised to speak to someone they can trust, phone ChildLine on 0800 1111 or visit the special website
www.donthideit.com for more information.
The site shows five teenagers stepping out of the page to talk about physical, sexual and emotional abuse as well as neglect and bullying and how these can be stopped.
Previous research has shown that one in three young people regularly using the internet has received unwanted sexual comments, according to the NSPCC.
Nearly half have given out personal details about themselves online and
one young girl who responded to last year's "Don't Hide It" campaign described how she was misled and raped by a man she had met online.
She said: "He didn't care about me - just wanted one thing. I felt so dirty."
