44 pc of Brit kids flouting Facebook age limit

Herald Globe (ANI) Wednesday 8th February, 2012

Nearly half of British children under the age of 12 are using Facebook, illegally, since the minimum age for accessing the social networking website is 13, a new study has revealed.

The new research, compiled by Dubit, a youth research specialist, studied 2,000 children aged between six and 14, across the UK and the US, found that Brit children, who are under the Facebook age limit, were using the site more than their American counterparts, the Telegraph reported.

In the US, 37 per cent of eight to 12 year-olds access the site on a regular basis.

The study also found that by the age of 12, 58 percent of children in the UK and the US have a Facebook account.

It also revealed that an additional 23 percent of eight-year olds regularly access Facebook, with 10 percent of them acknowledged that they used the social media for the first time by using their parents' accounts.

The statistics have emerged on 'Safer Internet Day', a period of 24 hours during which web companies and providers; often introduce new measures to ramp up internet safety for children.

The study also found that 66 percent of six year-old children are aware of Facebook.

More than half (53 percent) of the children interviewed said that they would like a 'junior' Facebook to be created, so they could access the site legitimately. (ANI)