ALMOST nine out of 10 parents want tougher laws regulating internet pornography, according to research published today.

British families seem to be more restrictive than their European counterparts when it comes to letting children use the internet, the London School of Economics study found.

But parents who are too fearful may be putting their children at greater risk or damaging their chances of getting a good job later in life, the research concluded.

Academics at the LSE interviewed more than 1,500 young people aged 9-19 in the UK and 900 of their parents.

The key findings of the two-year study included:

* 85% of parents wanted to see tougher regulation of pornography.

* Nearly one in five parents (18%) said they did not know how to help their children use the internet safely.

Among the young people surveyed, 98% said they had access to the internet at home, school or somewhere else, while 19% had the internet in their bedrooms.

Left behind

Sonia Livingstone, professor of social psychology at LSE, said: "Now that many young people rely on the internet for information, homework help and careers guidance, the more it matters that some of them are getting left behind.

"Not knowing how to best use the internet may have a negative impact on their education and employment opportunities."

Professor Livingstone's report said British parents seem more restrictive than parents across the European Union.

One study found half of EU parents do not let their children give out personal information via the internet, compared with 86% of those interviewed in the LSE research.

But British parents are less restrictive than in the US, where 62% of parents check up on their children's internet use afterwards, compared with 41% in the UK.

Parents who restrict their children's internet use too much may leave their children "less aware" of online risks such as the dangers associated with chatrooms, the report said.