But liberating though that level of communication can be for children, it can also make their world a very dangerous place. Last week the children's charity NCH revealed figures showing that, largely due to the increased use of the internet, child pornography crimes have risen by 1,500 per cent since 1988. The Government is certainly not shy of addressing the issue - the Home Office Taskforce on Child Protection has recently re-launched its campaign, www.thinkuknow.co.uk, offering advice for parents, schools and children on net safety.
Many schools already use protective systems - Bradford LEA is such an example - providing a "walled garden" to 200 schools in the area, with access to a limited collection of specially selected websites and blocking certain areas of the internet, including chat rooms. But we do have to be careful that we're not edging our way into Big Brother territory on the net.
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