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Naive children who believe everything they read online: Fifth of 12 to 15-year-olds have unquestioning faith in information they find via internet searches

Teens struggle to tell the difference between reliable research and opinion
Two thirds of young teens cannot differentiate the paid-for adverts that appear at the top of search results, from the ‘genuine’ results listed below
Nearly one in ten youngsters aged 8 to 15 believe information on social media websites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube is ‘all true

By Katherine Rushton Media And Technology Editor For The Daily Mail

Published: 19:59 EST, 19 November 2015 | Updated: 03:25 EST, 20 November 2015

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Britain appears to be raising a generation of dangerously naïve children, after new research found that millions of youngsters believe everything they read on the internet.

According to Ofcom, a fifth of children aged 12 to 15 have unquestioning faith in information that they find through search engines like Google.

Often they are unable to tell the difference between reliable research with a rigorous academic foundation, and blogs posted by individuals who have axes to grind or are simply seeking to make money.

Naive: Two thirds of young teens cannot differentiate the paid-for adverts that appear at the top of search results, from the ‘genuine’ results listed below, according to an Ofcom report

And two thirds of young teens cannot differentiate the paid-for adverts that appear at the top of search results, from the ‘genuine’ results listed below.

Children are also alarmingly credulous on social media – raising concerns that scammers, paedophiles and jihadi recruiters could take advantage of them online.

Nearly one in ten youngsters aged 8 to 15 believe information on social media websites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube is ‘all true’, Ofcom said, in its annual ‘Children and Parents: Media and Attitudes’ report.

This figure has more than doubled since 2014, when just four per cent of youngsters believed everything they read on these sorts of social networks and video-sharing websites.

Native: Ofcom’s findings challenge widespread assumptions that the generations who have grown up with the internet – so-called ‘digital natives’ – are automatically savvier about the online world

Ofcom’s findings challenge widespread assumptions that the generations who have grown up with the internet – so-called ‘digital natives’ – are automatically savvier about the online world.

And they raise fresh concerns about the threats children face there.

Terrorist organisations like Islamic State rely heavily on YouTube and Twitter to spread their propaganda and try to radicalise new, would-be recruits.

Sexual predators also use social networks in order to ‘groom’ youngsters online, often with the hope of meeting them and abusing them in person.

James Thickett, Ofcom’s director of research, said: ‘Children can find their way about the internet but they’re lacking the nous to work out what is helpful and what might be a scam…They’re not stopping and thinking. Potentially, it could make them vulnerable.’

In news that will come as something of a relief, the watchdog found that the vast majority of parents are now taking extra steps to safeguard their children online, and prevent them from accessing unsuitable material.

More than nine out of ten manage their children’s internet usage in some way – either by talking to them, supervising them personally, setting certain rules, or using so-called ‘parental filters’ to block access extreme violence, porn, and other unsavoury websites.

More than four out of ten take all four measures to protect their offspring.

However, Ofcom warned that it is getting harder for parents to monitor or censor all of their children’s online activity, because of the proliferation of smartphones – which give users access to the web wherever they go.

FACEBOOK RELEASES NEW 'BREAK UP' TOOL TO BANISH FORMER FLAMES

Having to see your ex on Facebook may be one of the worst things about the site.

But the company is determined to fix that, after launching a new tool on its mobile app to help users take the pain out of a relationship breakup.

When you change your relationship status to 'single,' Facebook will ask if you want to 'take a break' from seeing pictures and posts of your ex.

If you do, then their name won't automatically appear when you're writing a message or tagging friends in posts and photos.

You also have the option of hiding certain things you post from your ex and can also limit people's ability to see past posts where the two of you are together.

Facebook says it will never notify your former partner of your decision.

Meanwhile, the amount of time children spend online has dramatically. The average youngster aged between 8 and 15 now spends 15 hours a week glued to the internet – the equivalent of two working days.

That figure has more than doubled in the last decade, and is expected to continue rising.

Mr Thickett said: ‘The internet allows children to learn, discover different points of view and stay connected with friends and family. But these digital natives still need to develop the know-how they need to navigate the online world.’

A surprising number of children seem blind to the role advertising plays online, and how product placement works, according to the Ofcom research.

Just over half realised that YouTube makes its money from advertising, despite the fact that they play during nearly every online video.

And less than half were aware that people who post online videos for a living – so-called ‘vloggers’ – are often paid to endorse particular products.

But even when youngsters’ online activity is ‘safe’, and they learn the difference between content that can and cannot be trusted, it seems that the internet does not always make youngsters happy.

Around half of boys with social media accounts, and who are aged 12 to 15, said that there are things they dislike about the online world.

And that figure rose to seven out of ten among their female counterparts. Nearly one in three young teenage girls said that they worried about people spreading gossip online, whilst nearly a quarter (23 per cent) complained that others used social networks to be ‘nasty, mean or unkind’.

Earlier this year, a separate survey found that online bullying is so rife, more than 40 per cent of teenagers regard it as a bigger problem than drugs.

Some 15 per cent of British teenagers said they had been cyber-bullied in the past, and more than a third thought that being targeted in this way is worse than being bullied face to face, according to the report commissioned by Vodafone.

Meanwhile, sixteen and seventeen-year-olds should not have the right to vote in the European referendum as their brains do not reach maturity until 25, Justice Minister Lord Faulks said.

The brother of novelist Sebastian Faulks told the House of Lords: ‘We have to ask ourselves whether, in our desire to enthuse 16 and 17-year-olds, we may be in danger of placing too great a responsibility on them.’