ARE you buying your child a tablet or laptop for Christmas?

This year, thousands of youngsters will have the latest communication gadget at the top of their wish-list. But, unlike probably every other gift given to children on Christmas morning, this one has very sinister implications for your child.

We all know about the danger from paedophiles targeting youngsters online. Unfortunately, we also realise that today’s children know a great deal about communication via the latest technology without understanding exactly how devious these sick individuals can be.

It’s true that our children can probably run rings around most adults with their quick grasp of what the latest apps can do – and that’s daunting for parents as it often underlines their own lack of understanding of technology.

It is not, however, simply enough to shrug your shoulders and lament “Kids today …. their lives are all about the net and I wish I understood it better.”

It has simply never been more important for adults to keep abreast generally of the latest technology. I’m not talking about all the services you can get on your iPhone, but how to install effective blocking and filtering systems on any gadget your child uses on his or her own.

Most important of all, it is vital to get your youngster to keep conversing with you about their online use so that you know exactly who they are talking to. One case cited just last week had a nine year-old with a Facebook account (not sure how a child that age was allowed to have one, but they did) who had around 56 online “friends”, 35 of whom were adults that the child did not know.

This has terrifying potential consequences for vulnerable youngsters who believe the people with whom they are “chatting” so socially are actually their own age and share similar interests. The reality is often that they are 40 year-old predatory males happy to “groom” your child with a view to meeting them long-term.

Now that we also appreciate how willing our children are to swap pictures – both innocent and otherwise – with strangers they are in touch with online, the future scenario for disaster is very real.

The relevant law, including the latest relating to swapping pictures, is already hard to administer using dwindling resources. So, it all comes back to parental control, and we all urgently need to take it here.