Her report, treading a delicate line between tighter regulation and better coordinated parental education, will argue that industry and government must do more to provide information to parents on how to set timers on computers, video games and console games. She will propose:

· New codes of practice to regulate social networking sites, such as Bebo and Facebook, including clear standards on privacy and harmful content;· A gold standard for the use of console games, including clear set-up guidance for parents on issues such as pin codes and locks;· Better information for parents on how to block children accessing some websites. Byron has been struck that the technology exists to impose timers and filters, but there has been little take-up, knowledge or development of the technology;

She will also concede that academic research on the impact of the net on children and their lifestyles is inadequate.

two-thirds of teens admit in a survey that emoticons and other informal styles have crept in

The Pew Internet and American Life Project, in a study released Thursday, also found that teens who keep blogs or use social-networking sites such as Facebook or News Corp.'s MySpace have a greater tendency to slip nonstandard elements into assignments

Teens who consider electronic communications with friends as "writing" are more likely to carry the informal elements into school assignments than those who distinguish the two.