Minister for Education Mary Hanafin has expressed her concern about the "hurt" caused to young people who use online discussion boards but who subsequently find that their private thoughts are open to abuse.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio's Tubridy show yesterday, Ms Hanafin said she was worried about the "isolationist" nature of the internet and text messaging.
She referred to a letter written to parents by a friend of hers who is a principal of a school. In the letter, the principal highlights the dangers of online discussion boards such as bebo.com, and tells them about terms such as blogging that many parents simply do not understand.
"Teenagers feel that they are putting their innermost feelings and their private thoughts in a diary on the internet which they feel is private but which in fact is open to the whole world," she said. "And young people have got very hurt."