A recent US study has highlighted how online access is affecting academic success.

The study, called Distracted: Academic Performance Differences Between Teen Users and Non-Users of MySpace and Other Communication Technology, revealed that teenagers with a MySpace account, mobile phone and instant messaging had significantly lower grades than those who did not.

But can these things really be doing youngsters more harm than good?

Cabinet member for Children and Young People for Northamptonshire County Council Joan Kirkbride said: “I can’t see any reason why we should restrict youngsters from using the internet.

“I don’t see how social sites such as MySpace can affect academic performance. In fact, this time can be used as an incentive to youngsters by ensuring they have completed their homework before logging on to such sites.

“Schools will be aware of what youngsters will be looking at on the computers at school and will regulate what they look at.

“I would have thought children would not have time to look any social sites while at school anyway.

“There are pros and cons of social websites.

“The pros are that children can become familiar and skilled at using computers and in communicating with a wider cohort.

“It is also more productive than sitting mindlessly in front of the TV. The cons are that we have to ensure there is a good balance between using the computer and participating in a wider range of activities.

“We also have to ensure using chat rooms is not the sole way of communicating with other people. The time spent on these sites is up to parents as long as it isn’t during homework time.”

Carly Strickland, 17, an A-Level student from Weekley, spends an hour a day on the internet. Some of her friends use the internet for as long as four to five hours a day.

She said: “My family have had the internet at home for about five years. When we didn’t have broadband, my parents restricted how long I was allowed on the internet for because it was more expensive then, but they’ve never stopped me looking at what I want to online.

“I think parents should restrict children under the age of 14 from looking at anything inappropriate with some spy software to see what sites they are going on.

“The websites I use most are MySpace, Google, Hotmail and Topshop. My school and college both restricted internet use, so we couldn’t go on sites like MySpace.

“I guess it’s up to them if they want to, I suppose it can prevent you from doing your homework or something but then there are some websites like GCSE Bitesize which are really beneficial to learning, so they’re not all negative.

“Sites where you talk to your friends I don’t think can really do you any harm as you’re only talking.