When our children are struggling to get to school, the last thing they need is to be bullied by their 'friends' on their mobile phones.

Bullying using a mobile phone (cyber bullying) is rife in our schools. The schools know this - we have had meetings/briefings on this and internet safety - but there is little they can do unless it is brought to their attention with specific details. Actually, there is little that we as parents can do either if we are not aware of it.

And, of course, technology is for the young - parents are inevitably a step behind their children in knowing what is going on. And they want to be in control.

It would be interesting to know what steps others use to protect their children, and to protect other parents' children. It is easy to say 'no computers in bedrooms' but mobile phones? It would also be interesting to know what steps schools are taking to minimize text bullying.

Please think beyond the mobile phone - is it also happening in chat rooms and IM? On Facebook, Bebo, MySpace, etc?

The local policeman told me a story recently. His child was being bullied on Facebook. To protect her, he banned her from using it for a month. But the messages still came. All her 'friends' could see them, but she was not aware of what was going on - just that there was a lot of giggling around her. When she went back onto Facebook, she saw the pile of comments that had been made about her.

Technology might be wondeful, but there can be a cost.