In a 2008 survey for Becta, 42 per cent of the teachers questioned said they had never taught their students about e-safety (Source: Becta E-safety and Web 2.0 Report, September 2008).
But it's easy to take advantage of Citizenship, PSHE, ICT and other subjects to teach young people about the positive, responsible and safe use of new technologies and explain that, just like in the real world, there are tools, guidelines and laws in place to help protect them.
It's also essential that you engage your students' parents in the issue of e-safety, by directing them to relevant information and involving them in school activities related to new technologies. After all, your students benefit from consistent messages at school and at home.
It might seem like a complex area to teach, but the more you empower yourself, the greater the difference you can make to your students' digital lives.
Teachtoday is a good place to start and, in the following sections, we address some of the key questions you might have and provide links to other to other useful websites, like Becta, Teachernet and Childnet.
Please note that we haven't divided the Teachtoday website by students' age as we think it's important to understand all the issues, whether you work in a primary or secondary school.
If you're looking for guidance on something that concerns your own use of technologies - such as whether you should give your email address to students or what the rules are when it comes to teachers taking digital photos at school - go to the Teacher Advice section of Teachtoday