1 Ask what your children are doing – ask your child to show you what they do online – even if they don’t show you everything, they now know you are taking an interest.

2 Establish rules – if your child uses the internet, establish rules as to the amount of time they can spend online, the type of sites they can visit, the information they may or may not give out online and rules (or protocol) as to the responsible use of internet.

3 Bebo/MySpace/YouTube – Check out if your child has a profile on any of these popular social networking sites. You need to discuss with them what is appropriate to be there and what they should remove. You should know what is there and what they say (in a recent survey by Anchor WATCH_YOUR_SPACE 1 child in 8 had given out their mobile phone number).

4 Communicate – talk to your child about what they come across while online and if it is inappropriate, discuss your views with them.

5 Personal information – Set out what is not to be disclosed online such as their name, address, telephone contact details, photos or passwords, etc.

6 Technology/Activity – The variety of different types of technology, from their mobile phone to computers to video games to digital media, all need to be monitored and the rules applied as to their safe use.

7 Details recorded – children should be made aware that all details and information is recorded. You are not anonymous when you go online, even text messages remain stored even if they have deleted them from your device. Every step online leaves a digital footprint.

8 Be smart – encourage your child to be smart consumers of information online. Anyone in the world can post anything online – fact or fiction.

9 Appropriate use – discuss the importance of appropriate use. Check out www.webwise.ie.

10 Use internet protection/filtering – the National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE) is an Irish Government agency, established to provide advice, support and information on the use of information. See www.ncte.ie