Three-quarters of young people surveyed claim they could not live without the internet and 45 percent felt happiest when they were online. Almost one in three agreed with the statement: "I can access all the information I need online, there is no need to speak to a real person about my problems."
Professor Michael Hulme of Lancaster University, who carried out the research, said: "For young people, the internet is part of the fabric of their world and does not exist in isolation from the physical world. Rather it operates as a fully integrated element."
The report, Life Support: Young People's Needs in a Digital Age, commissioned by charity Youthnet, refers to "digital natives", under 25-year-olds who have been surrounded by computers, the internet, mobile phones and video games since a pre-school age. They are "fundamentally different" to previous generations, with highly developed visual-spatial skills and more advanced communicating and networking skills.
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