A GOVERNMENT agency has criticised networking site Bebo for its continued failure to implement a registration process which would root out pornography and bullying on a site used by hundreds of thousands of Irish children.

PARENTS need to learn more about the internet to help ensure their children are using it safely, experts have warned.

Up to 95% of children have access to the internet, Education Minister Mary Hanafin said today as she launched a new website to promote on-line safety for youngsters.

ONLY half of the country’s schools have been fully connected for broadband internet use but the Department of Education insists it should have the rest of them hooked up by its own deadline of next March.

A THIRD of Irish children using the internet have viewed pornography while a quarter have received unwanted sexual comments, a study has revealed.