MOSCOW, February 27 (Itar-Tass) - Children's ombudsman Pavel Astakhov said on Wednesday more than half of Internet users under 14 years of age browse offensive websites.
"Thirty-nine percent of children under 14 visit porn sites, 19 percent watch scenes of violence, and 16 percent are keen to gamble. Fourteen percent of children are interested in narcotics substances and alcohol, and 11 percent of minors visit extremist and nationalist web resources," Astakhov told a conference which addressed children's information security in modern media environment.
The use of the Internet has increased dramatically in the recent years because of the growing number of PCs in the country and the Development of Education national projects where almost all schools have been connected to the Internet. The Internet users' activities have sharply increased, Astakhov stated.
According to the Safe Internet Center, ten million children under 14 in Russia actively use the Internet, which makes up 18 percent of the country's Internet users.
The ombudsman noted that a considerable portion of pupils in primary school can browse the web. "Sociological surveys state that 88 percent of four-year-old children use the Internet together with their parents. Eight- and nine-year-olds tend to browse the web on their own. By 14, a mere 7 percent of adolescents use the Internet together with their parents," Astakhov said.