There are many kinds of technology that are available to today's children that were not available just a few years ago. Many children have their own blogs, participate in chat rooms, use camera phones to takes photographs or make videos, and exchange emails with their friends. These activities help to bring people together, but we must recognise that their use can also may children vulnerable if they are not used wisely.

Parents, please spend an hour or two looking through the following site with your children. It's an excellent site and the material you will find there has been distributed to every school in the UK.

www.childnet-int.org/kia

For advice on protecting your privacy in the age of information, visit this site created by the students of European School 3, Brussels and Hot Springs Middle School, Arkansas, USA:

www.morpheus.cc/e-privacy

Other good sites promoting safe technology use include:

Insafe is Europe's internet safety portal.

A Parent's Guide to Internet Safety - US Dept. of Justice, FBI Publications

The UK Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre site contains loads of information on internet safety and safe surfing for young people.

The Social Networking page of the CEOP site discusses the safe use of blogs (social networking sites).

WiredSafety.org is the world's largest Internet safety and help group, run entirely by unpaid volunteers from 76 countries around the world. They promote safer and smarter use of interactive technologies and provide education, expertise and help to people of all ages online.