YOUNG urban Malays aged 13 to 19 are the most frequent visitors to pornography websites, reported Kosmo!, quoting a study by Universiti Putra Malaysia's Social Sciences Institute (Ipsas).

The study said 22 per cent of the multi-racial make-up of respondents in the survey were Malays, who also topped the list of those who liked to lepak (be idle) (15 per cent), smoke (13.7 per cent) as well as swear at people and play truant (11.5 per cent) respectively.

"Playing truant used to be the dominant misconduct among Malay students. Now, it is viewing pornographic websites at cyber cafes," said Ipsas director Prof Dr Md Salleh Hassan, who headed the research.

"These findings make it urgent for the Government to block easy access to the sites before they become a security threat to the nation," he said, echoing a similar warning made recently by former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Dr Md Salleh lamented that it was disappointing that parents who were interviewed about their children's penchant for pornography sites denied the claims, despite the confessions made by the youngsters.

Among the other races, Chinese students were found to be more inclined towards gambling (9.5 per cent) and consuming alcoholic drinks (6.2 per cent) while Indian youths were found to be prone to cheating during examinations (10.6 per cent) and picking quarrels with their teachers (7.6 per cent).