The unrestricted, anonymous and almost unreal nature of the Internet seems to encourage people to behave in ways that they would never contemplate in real life. Opportunites to engage in unsavoury or even illegal actions seem so much easier when only using a mouse and keyboard in the comfort of your own school or home.

Depending on the age of the children, the following points may need to be discussed or  addressed within school policies and action:

• Never upload pictures and personal information about people without their permission. A school website may have over 500 visitors a week and staff and pupils may not appreciate the intrusion if their photographs, writing and personal information are easily available to anybody reading the pages.
• Check the copyright of any music and graphics you use. MP3 files of popular music are rarely copyright free unless you have composed them yourself. Graphics can easily be taken from a webpage but it is always best to use a web based archive for copyright free images and music.
• Tell people if you link to their site. Some major sites such as the VTC are accessed by thousands of people each day and will expect to be linked to from many places.  On the other hand, if you link to another school or to somebody's personal webpages it is always good "netiquette" to inform them. This not only strengthens the Internet community, but it also tells the person that you are linking to that certain pages are used by others and should not be deleted.
• Ensure you do not provide links to unsavoury material - make sure the links you use are suitable for your audience and remember that the pages could be read by anybody including very young children. Always check sites thoroughly before placing them on your website.