As more children connect to the Internet, a new study is showing that nearly of quarter of children have already sent or received email with inappropriate content .

The study, released as part of the Brighter Sparks initiative in the UK to help parents raise children with Internet, also shows two percent would meet a stranger they met online.

Our research underlines the need for greater communication between parents and children, said Tristia Clarke of TalkTalk, the ISP responsible for the study.

It's the best way for parents to get a sense of the likely risks to their children and therefore manage and minimize them where possible.

Nearly a quarter of the kids surveyed said their parents are completely oblivious to what they are doing on the Internet, while 62 percent claimed they lie to their parents about what they look at on the web. Over half delete their browsing history to parents can't discover what they've been up to.

It's crucial that parents educate themselves about what's going on online and what their kids are doing there, Clarke said.

More than half (55 percent) believe they know more about the web than their parents and 47 percent reckoned they had at least two hours unsurpervised browsing time every day.

The reseach was conducted via the eParent test on TalkTalk's site, which was designed by Professor Tanya Byron, author of the Byron Review.

The internet doesn't have to be a dangerous place for children and in fact can be hugely beneficial to their development and education, Byron said.

The report recommends parents use tools that help them block inappropriate content .

United kingdom