UK children top global list for online drug queries

BRITISH children are more interested in websites featuring drugs, alcohol and tobacco than youngsters in 55 countries, figures show.

Cyber security company Kaspersky Lab analysed the online activities of 80million personal computers using its safety software in the 12 months to May this year.

It found 37.6 per cent of children in Britain tried to access a website containing information on tobacco, drugs or alcohol.

The figure was the highest of all the countries for which the multinational company holds information.

The UK total compares with

31.9 per cent of children in America and just 3.2 per cent in Egypt. The report suggests tobacco, drugs and alcohol are ‘part of teenage culture’.

The data was gathered via parental control and security software, which is installed by families to restrict access to inappropriate material.

British children were also the most likely to try to access content relating to online gaming, with over a quarter visiting a website to play a computer game.

Children in China were the most likely to try to access websites and software downloads to listen to videos and music (18.5 per cent) compared with 6 per cent here.

‘Teenage culture’