A third of children aged 8 to 12 use the internet on a daily basis and this figure rises to half for teenagers, while at least 90% of Australian homes with children have an internet connection.

The top three most popular online activities for children are instant messaging, surfing, and email, and many children are members of online communities.

Unfortunately, there are risks for children using the internet. Four main ones are:

• Online enticement
• Access by children to pornography
• Distribution of child pornography
• Cyberbullying

For example, instant messaging can enable gossiping and bullying, and in chat rooms, children may be misled into doing things that they would not normally do and may accidentally reveal more (even much more) than they should. Consequently, these places are cruising grounds for predators.

Source: Ms Sally-Anne McCormack, Healthed Sydney Paediatrics Update & Education Day 2008. Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.