Letter writing is becoming a dying art among technologically savvy children, a survey suggests.
More than a quarter (26 per cent) of seven to 14-year-olds have not written a letter in the last year, and one in 10 (10 per cent) has never written one, according to a poll commissioned by World Vision.
But in the last week alone, half (49 per cent) of youngsters have written an e-mail or a message on a social networking site.
More than four in 10 (43 per cent) have not received a letter in the past year, and 20 per cent say they have never received one. In contrast, more than half (52 per cent) have received an email or message on a social networking site in the last week.
The figures reveal that many youngsters are leaving primary school unable to set out a letter - almost half of 11-year-olds (45 per cent) are unsure of the right layout.
Child education expert Sue Palmer said: "If children do not write or receive letters they miss out on key developmental benefits. Handwritten letters are much more personal than electronic communication.
"By going to the trouble of physically committing words to paper, the writer shows their investment of time and effort in a relationship. That's why we tend to hang on to personal letters as keepsakes."
The poll, conducted to mark the charity's National Letter Writing Day, reveals children are less likely to write letters as they get older.
About eight per cent of 14-year-olds have written a letter in the last week, compared with more than a quarter (28 per cent) of seven-year-olds. More than four in 10 (43 per cent) 14-year-olds have not written a letter in the past year, and 12 per cent have never written a letter.
There is also a gender gap - with girls more likely than boys to put pen to paper.
Over three in 10 boys (31 per cent) have not written a letter in the last 12 months, or never written a letter, compared with a fifth (21 per cent) of girls.
Face to face contact is the most common way youngsters communicate with friends and family (chosen by 49 per cent) with 15 per cent using phone calls and 13 per cent communicating by text message.
The findings do suggest that manners play a large part in children's letter writing - with seven in 10 (70 per cent) of the more than 1,000 youngsters questioned saying they would pen a note to say thank you.
Ms Palmer said: "The effort of writing is a very real one for a child. Painstakingly manoeuvering the pencil across the page, thinking of the best words to convey a message, struggling with spelling and punctuation.
"It is, however, an effort worth making, because it's only through practice that we become truly literate - and literacy is the hallmark of human civilisation."
Letter writing is a key point of World Vision's child sponsorship campaign, which connects UK families with children and communities in the developing world. Kate Nicholas, World Vision associate director, said: "We know that literacy is one of the main ways to fight poverty in the developing world, but it's also a key concern for parents and teachers, up and down the UK, who sponsor with World Vision.
"Many of them see child sponsorship as a win-win situation. It allows children to improve their literacy and build a personal relationship through letter-writing, while understanding more about the world and giving children living in poverty the chance to access education themselves."
The YouGov poll questioned 1,188 seven to 14-year-olds between April 6 and 12.