Internet Safety Day is an excellent opportunity for parents, teachers and young people across Europe to recognise the benefits and potential dangers of being online and take practical steps to use the internet safely. It is vitally important that parents, teachers and organisations like Becta take on the responsibility to ensure that our young people receive protection wherever and whenever they go online.

Young people respond to technology because they have grown up with it. For many, the online world offers endless opportunities to communicate, create, discover and be entertained in a virtual environment. As parents and teachers, we shouldn’t exclude it from their lives because we have a vague sense that it is ‘not a good thing’. We need to do what parents and educators have always done – harness their children’s passions and interests and use them to engage them in learning.

To support this, Becta have launched The Next Generation Learning campaign, which enables everyone to use technology to its full potential - if you’re a parent, it lets you get fully involved in your child's education; if you're a learner, it lets you learn how, when and where you want; and if you're an employer, it helps you train your workforce efficiently and effectively. To find out more visit www.nextgenerationlearning.org.uk

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- Stephen Crowne, Chief Executive, Becta