Polish children are among the most represented group on social networking sites among European kids in the 9-12 age bracket, a new report from the European Commission shows.

The European Commission survey found that 58 percent of Polish youngsters have personal profiles on such major sites as Facebook, MySpace, Netlog or the Polish Nasza Klasa. This ranks them in third place, together with their Danish peers.

Only Dutch kids with a 70 percent record and their Lithuanian equals have outdistanced the young Poles. By comparison, the rate of social networking presence among French kids up to 12 years of age is one in four, while the European average is 40 per cent.

The European Commission report draws attention to the danger inherent in not applying any precautions by such young people in securing their personal data files and leaving them widely accessible.

This makes them especially prone to paedophile assaults and an easy target for various online frauds, is the warning from Brussels. (ss/jb)

Source: IAR