London: They may have become a necessity in today's world, but a new study has found that mobile phones are exposing children as young as eight years to smut.
The study, conducted by YouGov, has revealed that around 1.2 million children in the UK have looked at violent or pornographic websites on their smartphones, The Daily Telegraph reported.
The study, based on a poll of over 1,000 children aged eight to 15, found that nearly half owned a smartphone such as the iPhone, with most saying their parents had bought them the devices.
A fifth said they had viewed violent or pornographic content on a telephone. This suggests that 1.2 million out of a total of six million in the eight-to-15 age group have used a smartphone to access illicit material.
Nearly nine out of 10 children questioned had no security settings on their telephones, and 46 per cent of parents were unaware that they're even necessary, according to the survey for Carphone Warehouse.
A further 18 per cent of 15 year-olds also reported being bullied or bullying others using a smartphone, with 27 per cent receiving unwanted calls or messages.
Prof Tanya Byron, a leading child psychologist who has been advising the government on child internet safety since 2007, said the findings were "no surprise" in an age of developing internet technology.
The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre advised parents to wake up to the risks mobile telephones pose as online technology develops.
A spokesman said: "If your child has a mobile phone that can access the internet you need to think about what they may be able to access through it, such as porn sites and other inappropriate content."
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