Technology is now a fact of life for most children. Almost half the population have an Internet-connected computer in the home and 96 per cent of children between the ages of 10 and 14 years own a mobile phone. Using the Internet is now more popular than watching television for those children with a computer in the home, according to a survey on the use of new media that will be published today by the Internet Advisory Board.
This boom in Internet use by children is being fuelled by parents who view the Internet as a key educational tool and fear their offspring will be left behind in the "information age" if they do not have access to the technology.
Getting to grips with modern technology at such a young age should help prepare children for their working lives, much of which will be spent using the Internet.
But there is often a downside to new technologies and the Internet is no different. There is a growing awareness among parents that it can pose dangers for their children. The unregulated nature of the World Wide Web means that access to pornography, offensive material and illegal websites is often just a few mouse clicks away.
One in 10 Irish children between the age of 10 and 14 years say they have viewed something on the Internet that has made them feel uncomfortable. And the dangers of Internet chat rooms, which paedophiles have used to "groom" children, are now well-known by most parents.
There are signs that both parents and children have become more "tech savvy" in recent years. Most parents now monitor their children's online activity by checking the websites that they are visiting and monitoring their phone bills. There has also been a significant drop in the number of children using Internet chat rooms, 5 per cent now compared to 30 per cent in 2001.
Unfortunately, this increased awareness of the potential dangers posed by the Internet is not shared by some firms that are providing access to the technology. The Minister of State for Children, Mr Brian Lenihan, criticised some Internet service providers last week for not signing up to a self-regulatory regime. Mr Lenihan is threatening to impose Government regulation next year if all members of the industry do not sign up to a Code of Practice drawn up by the Internet Advisory Board.
Imposing Government regulation on Irish-based Internet service providers will have only a limited effect on Internet content, much of which is hosted in overseas locations. But it would at least send a signal to the industry that the Government shares the concerns of parents about the welfare of children in the Internet age.