Computers are common in most homes and kids are growing up with technology all around them. For children, using the internet is second nature and they're as adept at using websites as they are at using the TV remote.

- Search: Online safety

As a parent it's important that you're involved in your children's internet use. You need to understand what it is your kids enjoy doing online and be aware of any potential dangers or problems that their online activities may raise.

So what are they doing online?

Generally, the reasons that kids use the internet are different from their parents. In order to help figure out how to keep your kids safe online you need to understand what they're spending their time doing. Most adults are happy sending email and viewing websites, but children's web usage is much more complicated.

The average age for kids to start using the internet is just three years old. Pre-school-aged children react best to characters or songs and rhymes that they recognise, so look for websites based on their favourites. At this age they need constant supervision, so make sure you sit with your child and chat to them about what you see and do online.

As kids get older they'll want to explore on their own, which is when you'll need to understand what they're up to. Their online activity is likely to be a combination of two things: social networking and creating or downloading content. This involves:

- Visiting chat rooms
- Instant messaging
- Reading and posting to message boards
- Creating and writing blogs
- Downloading or uploading music, films, games, etc
- Playing games online

Online dangers

Broadly speaking there are three potential danger areas for kids using the internet: commerce, content and contact. We'll explain all three:

1. Commerce

As adults we're aware that there's sometimes a blurred line between content and advertising - but kids find this line harder to recognise. For instance, when using a search engine, we quickly learn to recognise the difference between sponsored results and true results.

In some cases what appears to be content can actually be set up to encourage a child's interest in a product. In some cases information such as name or age is asked for in order to gain access to free content - such as games - and that information is passed around among marketeers without the child, or parent, being aware of it. In some cases software (called spyware) is added to your computer that may pass on information about you.

So what do you do?

- Firstly install software such as Ad-Aware, which will clear spyware from your machine
- Use a family email address for online forms
- Never reply to, or open, email if you don't know who it's from
- Be careful about which websites you visit - only go to reputable sites

2. Content

With such a huge amount of information at their fingertips, kids often need help and advice when working out what's credible. Nearly half (4 out of 10) kids aged between 9 and 19 will trust most of the information they find on the internet. Plus, it's easy for them to come across things you'd be unhappy about them seeing.

- Talk to your child about what to do if they do see something unpleasant
- Teach them to be critical and not to accept everything they see or read as fact
- Set search filters on search engines
- Use browser tools like favourites, bookmarks and history
- Install filtering software - but remember that it's not foolproof

3. Contact

Frighteningly, one third of young people who go online at least once a week report having received unwanted sexual or nasty comments (31% and 33%, respectively) via email, chat, instant message or text message. Whereas only 7% of parents think that their child received such comments.

More than half of 9- to 19-year-olds will have come into contact with online pornography. Whereas only 16% of parents think that their child has seen pornography on the internet.

The ways in which kids come into contact with other people online are:

- Social networking sites
- Instant messaging (eg AOL or MSN)
- P2P (file-sharing)
- Multi-user online games
- Chat rooms

Giving out personal information online opens children up to danger. Only 5% of parents think that their child has given out such information, but in reality 49% of kids say that they have. Pretty scary stuff.

Online bullying is a big problem. From a bully's perspective, picking on someone online poses far less risk than bullying them in person. Finding out personal information online gives bullies a potential inroad.

The kind of bullying that happens online takes the following forms:

- Flaming - insults that get more angry and aggressive
- Harassment - taunts, insults or threats
- Denigration - false profiles and postings set up
- Outing - sending personal information to others
- Exclusion - being cut off from buddy lists
- Cyber-stalking - blackmail
- Cyber-threats - direct threats to harm

Online bullying is powerful and dangerous. The child has no escape - even when they're at home - and they often have no idea who the bully is.

What can you do?

- Make sure that you get involved in what your children are doing online
- Don't over-react if you find out something you're not happy about - or they might not talk to you about it again
- Discuss the consequences of giving out personal information (this can be anything about themselves, from their age and name to passwords)
- Tell your kids to never open a picture if someone sends one, and never send anyone pictures of themselves
- Keep the computer in a family space (eg the living room, not the child's bedroom) and set guidelines for the amount of time they spend online
- Report suspicious activities or bullying to online service providers
- Explain the 'SMART' rules and keep a copy of them pinned up near the family computer

SMART rules

SAFE: Keep safe by being careful not to give out personal information to people who you don't trust online.

MEETING: Meeting up with someone you have only been in touch with online can be dangerous. Only do so with your parent's/carer's permission, and even then only when they can be present.

ACCEPTING: Accepting emails or IM messages or opening files from people you don't know can be dangerous - they may contain viruses or nasty messages!

RELIABLE: Someone online may be lying about who they are, and information you find on the internet may not be true.

TELL: Tell your parent/carer or teacher if someone or something makes you feel uncomfortable or worried.

Produced with help from Childnet.