Parents are relying too heavily on their children doing as they are asked to keep them safe online according to new research from BroadbandChoices.co.uk.

The report shows that 84 per cent of parents polled across the UK said that they rate verbal agreement with their children on safe Internet usage as their number one means of monitoring online activity. This comes in the wake of a worrying Government report that one in four children has put themselves in potential danger by secretly meeting strangers they have contacted online.

Other ways that parents protect their children from online dangers are, the use of parental control software (63 per cent), restricting the amount of time children spend online (62 per cent) and  checking the computer to see what they have been doing online (59 per cent).

While this may seem like parents know what their children are doing, asking the children shows a different story. When asked what they did online during their school holidays 48 per cent said they downloaded music and photos, but 45 per cent said they joined in with chat rooms and tried making new friends online, with 40 per cent using social networking sites such as MySpace, Bebo and Facebook.

The report also outlined the need for parents to educate children on the dangers of online contacts, and not to reveal personal details to those they only meet online.