The risk of internet as babysitter

It used to be that playing dolls was all about paper, fabric, Barbies, needles and thread. Today, 10- to 13-year-olds are playing dolls online - comparing fashions in chatrooms with other girls they have never met.

It can work well - with girls playing for hours on end without having to leave the house for the world outside. But when girls start treating other girls as objects, like dolls, without regard to feelings, it can get nasty. And unlike with traditional doll-playing, where a parent is around to intervene, the internet can - like dolly fashion - have no mercy.

Once again this summer, the Internet Advisory Board is warning parents about the psychological dangers that children inflict on each other when the internet is used as a babysitter.

Social networks such as Bebo, YouTube, mobile phones and game sites, are all prime territory for bullying. The advisory board warns: "Parents and children should remember that the internet is a global, public space. Writing something negative about someone else in a private diary made of paper is very different from writing about her or him in a public forum.

Children need to be reminded that we all have a right to privacy and to our good name. Parents should be aware that very young children can find themselves using language or expressing emotions on their page which they would not use in a face-to-face situation, this can often have disturbing consequences." When you haven't been invited to a party that your friends were invited to, it can be painful to see the party discussed online - complete with pictures.

And when peers comment online about why certain people weren't invited, this can be soul-destroying for the shunned child.

"Remember, the best person to keep your child safe is you," says the board.

But that's difficult for working parents who aren't at home and have to rely on virtual parenting via mobile phone.