The internet is fast becoming a necessity in our children’s lives - for school projects, research, social news, hobbies, entertainment, finding part time work and staying in contact with friends.

And while being a much needed wealth of information and a terrific communication tool, the internet also provides paedophiles and online predators with unprecedented anonymous access to inquisitive and trusting children.

Children love talking with friends and making new friends in chat rooms and through instant messaging - with some reports showing that children prefer text based communication more than telephone calls.

Unfortunately paedophiles and predators know this and use these communication forums to 'groom' children by assuming identities of children themselves and befriending their targets. Over time they nuture the relationship and foster your child's confidence and trust, with the goal of organising a F2F (face to face) or ITRW (In The Real World) meeting.

of children online are targeted by these predators each year. One in five children - each year.

Almost every chat-savvy child will experience inappropriate and suspicious questions from strangers during their time on the internet; and with greater frequency we hear media reports of a child's innocent online 14yo friend turning out to be 40yo adult sexual predator - often with horrific results. Panda Software recently said reports concerning online pedophilia have increased 300% over the past three years.

of teenage girls say they had been sexually harassed in a chat room - and only 7% tell their parents about the harassment.

The internet may well be a necessity, but it is a necessity fraught with danger for those with innocent minds. In an ideal world we would all personally monitor our children’s internet use - all day, every day. But in today's fast paced and technically charged online environment it is impossible for us to do so.

We don't want to risk our child's education or social opportunities by disallowing them access to the internet all together, but we do want to monitor them closely at all times to help avoid the possible dangers.

This is why ChatAlert! was created.

Click here to read more about ChatAlert!, or visit the Peej and Research pages to get a true understanding of the problem parents now face.