KEY POINTS:
Tweens are more likely to act up or be bullies if they have online friends they have never met, a new study says.
They are also more likely to be short of sleep, away from school and depressed.
The findings are among the first from the Youth Connectedness Project, which tracks more than 2000 children aged 10 to 15 over three years.
The Government-financed project led by Victoria University found 72 per cent of respondents used the internet for leisure.
Of those, 38 per cent had online friends they had never met.
While males and females were equally likely to have online friendships, age did play a role, with 27 per cent of 10- to-11-year-olds having online friends compared with 48 per cent of 14- to-15-year-olds.
Research fellow Dr Jo Kleeb said almost half of those with online friends were classed "high risk" for conflict, such as bullying or fighting with their family. The figure for other internet users was a quarter.
She said it was too early to pinpoint why adolescents with online friends were more likely to get into trouble, but it might be because people tended to vent emotional stress on the internet and could over-invest in online friendships. The cyber friends might also encourage aggression.
"Those who have got online friends are less likely to be monitored by their parents."
Dr Kleeb said parents should try to strike a balance by keeping an eye on their children's internet activities.
A spokeswoman for the internet safety group NetSafe, Rachel Harrison, said it was vital that parents did not panic about what their children encountered online.
"Don't try to take the technology away from them because it's available from so many places.
"Thinking you can ban someone from that environment will just stop them talking to you."
About two-thirds of the adolescents in the study did not get eight hours' sleep a night in the week before they were surveyed. Those with online friends were significantly more likely to be sleep-deprived and slightly more likely to be away from school.
Tweens online
Of 10- to 15-year-olds:
* 72pc use the internet for leisure.
* 38pc of leisure surfers have online friends they've never met.
* 36pc of all those surveyed don't get enough sleep.
Source: Youth Connectedness Project
