The BBC's Jane O'Brien: "Nearly every child has a room with a viewer"

Half of six and seven-year-olds in the UK have televisions in their bedrooms, nearly three times as many as French or German children.

They spend an hour a day more watching television than their continental counterparts. In total, the study found children spent an average of five hours each day watching TV, playing computer games, listening to music or on the Internet.

But the researchers from the London School of Economics said the time spent watching TV and playing computer games was not a grave cause for concern.

And a more modern image

The reason children had taken to their bedrooms, the report found, was parents' concern for their children's safety on the streets. The children themselves said there was not enough to do in their local areas.

Sonia Livingstone, leader of the study which was the first of its kind for more than 40 years, said: "Our research does not support moral panics about children addicted to computer games or mindless entertainment on television.

"When we spoke to children, they were very pleased to have a television in their bedroom, but they were more concerned about not being able to see their friends. It is still their instinct to go out and play, go and see friends, and be with other people."

Books were seen as a poor relation of technology. Those with access to a computer were twice as likely to turn to it for reference than they would to a book.

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A spokeswoman said: "Overall the image of books is poor. They are widely seen as boring, old-fashioned, frustrating and requiring too much effort. Books are not trendy. They are the sort of thing 'your parents approve of'."

Internet ranking

The report was conducted for a number of media organisations including the Broadcasting Standards Commission, the BBC and ITV. It also looked at children's use of computers in the home.

More than half of children have a PC in their homes, but only 7% use the Internet. It found 16% of boys have computers in their rooms, twice as many as girls.

Children's attitudes to the Internet are divided. On the one hand there is enthusiasm for its potential, particularly for being able to e-mail pen-pals in other countries.

But there is frustration over the ease of getting information, and about its quality.

Scotland and Northern Ireland lag behind England and Wales in the numbers of PCs at home.

Class divisions

There are also marked differences in class take-up of technology.

Among middle class children, 46% have a multi-media computer at home, compared with 19% of working class children.

And 14% of middle class children have Internet access at home, compared to just 2% of working class children.

However, the situation is different when looking at TV-linked games machines such as the Sony Playstation and Nintendo 64. Here, working class children lead the middle class by 72% to 61%.

Sonia Livingstone said these figures were "very serious".

"When people talk about children going online, it's really middle class children they're talking about," she said.

Parental guidance

Parents' fears about their children's safety outdoors is not mirrored by worries about what they might see on television.

In fact, the study found, more parents were likely to make rules about use of the telephone than the television.

However, 82% of them thought the watershed was a "very good idea", while 25% said it should be pushed back to 10pm instead of the current 9pm.