British children search more for drugs and alcohol online than in any other country
Children in Britain form higher proportion of attempts to access such material
Study analysed the activities of 80 million computers between 2016 and 2017
Report suggests that alcohol, tobacco and drugs are ‘part of teenage culture’
Source: Daily Mail
By Eleanor Harding
17 June 2017
British children show more interest in drugs, alcohol and tobacco websites than peers abroad, a new study shows.
Analysis has revealed Britain has had a higher proportion of attempts by youngsters to access such material online over the past 12 months than 55 other countries.
The data was gathered via parental control and security software, which is installed by families to restrict access to inappropriate material.
Kaspersky Lab analysed the online activities of 80 million personal computers using its safety software between May 2016 and May 2017.
It found 37.6 per cent of children in Britain tried to access a website featuring information on tobacco, drugs or alcohol.
The figure was the highest out of all the countries for which the company holds information.
The UK total compares with 31.9 per cent of children in the US and just 3.2 per cent in Egypt.
The report suggests that the topics of tobacco, drugs and alcohol are a ‘part of teenage culture’.
British children were also the most likely to attempt to access content relating to online gaming, with over a quarter visiting a website to play a computer game.
Meanwhile, children in China were the most likely to try to access websites and software downloads that would allow them to watch and listen to videos and music -18.5 per cent – compared with only 6 per cent in the UK.