The study, conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). The survey was conducted on 4,200 parents of children aged between 8 years and 13 years in major metropolitan cities like Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune, Lucknow and Dehradun, among others, 75% of parents whose children are in the age group of 8-13 years were aware of their child signing up for the website.

"Minors lack the experience or judgement to use a social network and this raises the scary possibility of predators tracking down kids who reveal their age in an online chat, to cyber bullying and sexual abuse," Chairman of Assocham Health Committee B K Rao said, Reports, PTI

Nearly 25 percent of 13-year-olds, 22% percentof 11-year-olds and 15 percent of 10-year-old are on Facebook, while 5-10 percent of 8 and 9 year-olds are also active on the site. The survey also revealed children with working parents are addicted to technology.

                                           

Facebook has emerged as the most preferred social networking site among this age group. Other sites like flick.com, Google Plus, Pinterest are being used by 85 percent of children in the age group of 10-16 years.

The Indian government has issued strict directives against underage users accessing Facebook in order to deal with problems such as cyber bullying and online sexual abuse among other things. But this trend is dangerous as it can make children vulnerable to cyber bullying and online sexual abuse.