A quarter of primary school children have been upset by harmful content online.
While just over a fifth of secondary school students have been affected.
A report by CyberSafeKids finds parents are even less involved in their children’s online lives than in previous years.
CEO of the charity, Alex Cooney says far too many parents aren't checking what their kids are doing online.
"What we're seeing is very high levels of access to the online world, very high levels of ownership of devices.
"We're seeing around a quarter of the children being exposed to content that bothers or upsets them in some,
"Concerningly we also see a high proportion of those children not telling anyone about those experiences," she said.
Education Minister Norma Foley has been vocal about her views on smartphone use among young people.
In recent weeks she's made a move to limit the use of the devices in school settings.
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