The Government has been called on to establish a training programme for parents to make them aware of the risks associated with websites such as Bebo.
Labour spokeswoman on children Senator Kathleen O'Meara said parents would benefit from a programme to help them understand and manage the risks associated with their children becoming involved with online communities.
Her comments followed an article in The Irish Times in which the chief safety officer of Bebo, Dr Rachel O'Connell, said there were at least two problems associated with internet communities: the risk of cyberbullying and how to verify the age of users to avoid "grooming" of young children and teenagers by older men.
She said the site had plans to place an explanatory video for parents on its home page shortly.
Ms O'Meara said parents are not well versed in the risks associated with online communities and how to avoid them.
"The grooming of teenagers by older men, bullying, intimidation, the inappropriate posting of information by other teenagers, and victimisation are among the dangers that can arise," she said.
"Most teens appreciate that there are risks involved, and behave in a way that minimises these risks. However, there are some who may not fully understand the potential threats and unless the adults in their lives, particularly their parents, are well versed in how these communities work, and how unscrupulous people could exploit users, they could end up in danger."
She suggested that training could be delivered to parents through schools.
"Bebo has indicated some willingness to tackle these risks and the company and its competitors should be involved in the funding of any such programme," she added.
Dr O'Connell said every pupil in the State should be provided with a Government-supplied e-mail address as a way of verifying their age when using social networking websites such as Bebo.com.
This could help to prevent "grooming" of young children by older men and combat the risk of bullying by helping to establish the identity of individual users, she said. The use of such e-mail addresses as an age verification tool was something Bebo would support.
