Chatting to your mates online can be loads of fun, but children are being urged to make sure they stay safe on the web. Events are being held across the world to mark Safer Internet Day, to try and raise awareness of the dangers of the internet. One of the things children are being warned about is cyber-bullying, which is when bullies use the web, or mobile phones, to send nasty messages to someone. One study found that almost half the kids surveyed had experienced it.

John Mangelaars from Microsoft said kids were getting be-tter at using the web bec-ause lots of them were using it to keep in touch with their friends. But he said research showed kids still needed to learn more about staying safe. Seventeen social networking sites ha-ve pledged to do more to protect the young people that use them.