ANYONE OVER 25 can remember a time before the internet. Back then it didn’t feel like work, study or socialising were any more difficult or old-fashioned than they are now. If, however, the internet has always been a customary a part of your life, you have probably wondered how we ever existed without it.

Work and study aside, teenagers have taken online social networking to a whole new level. Sites such as MySpace, Bebo and Facebook are the online success stories of the 21st century.

While such sites have brought people closer together, they are open to abuse. The way people communicate online is different to how they do so face-to-face. The distance created by online networking potentially allows for more dishonesty and abuse to creep in to communication.

Educational theatre group Team have put together a three-part DVD drama called Get Real, to highlight the dangers of the online social networking phenomenon amongst teenagers.

“We have tried to tell a story that explores how kids are presenting themselves on the internet,” explains Nora Stillman, Education Director of Team Theatre. It is the teenagers’ choice to create their online identity and this is where problems can arise: there is often a big difference between the online package and the actual person.”

TY students at St Kevin’s CBS, Finglas have been taking part in Team workshops. One would expect a theatre company to have used a stage-based medium for the Get Real project but this time they have put together a TV drama in the hope that it will reach a wider audience.

The story is based around a teenaged girl with a large birthmark on her face. She moves to a new town with her mother and creates a new identity by covering up her birthmark with makeup. She sets up a new online profile with pictures that only show her with the birthmark covered up and ignores calls from old friends as she tries to make a fresh start.

However, an old boyfriend sees her online profile and decides to upload some pictures showing her birthmark.

Paula O’Connor, a computers and CSPE teacher at St Kevin’s, is also looking after the TY cyber bullying project. “I wasn’t really looking forward to doing it,” admits O’Connor. “It is a big group, all boys, and many have perceptions of themselves online which really aren’t true. So I didn’t think students would be honest. The reality is I’ve had 100 per cent honesty from all of them. Out of a class of 21, only two students don’t have an online profile. So it is something they are really interested in.”

SITTING IN ONa workshop in St Kevin's, it was striking to see how honest the students were willing to be. Several admitted they had hacked into other people's profiles and changed information, "just for a laugh". Such invasion of privacy was not seen as a big deal.

“I don’t think they even know that some of the actions they’re taking online are hurtful,” says O’Connor. “But they say things to each other online that they would never say face-to-face.”

This is a big part of the Get Realprogramme: making people aware of how different online communication is.

“Online socialising lacks body language, behavioural cues and clearer boundaries as to what is acceptable or unacceptable,” says Stillman. “Because of this, there is also a lack of understanding of consequence, particularly with teenagers. Real-life actions don’t occur online, so a distance is created between people which makes it harder to appreciate the impact of your behaviour.”

The three episodes of the Get RealDVD tackle different issues. Episode one is entitled "Are you more real online or offline?" The second is called "Technology creates the illusion that we are invisible or anonymous", and the third asks, "Should there be a moral code for online behaviour?" On the accompanying website there is a discussion area where students are invited to share their thoughts on each issue.

Fifteen-year-old Mark McGrath of St Kevin’s has both a Bebo and a MySpace profile, and uses both to stay in touch with friends as well as cousins abroad. “I like to use it for sharing music and keeping in touch with people, and most activity would be harmless,” he says. “You do see abuse being sent across the web between people, though. It starts off as a laugh but it can get serious. I think it is easier to say things online than it is to someone’s face.”

THE GET REALproject also invites parents to learn more. Talks have taken place where parents can find out what might be happening in the seemingly innocent setting of the home computer room. Home School Liaison Officer for St Kevin's, was key in organising the parents' nights. "We invited all TY parents to a meeting a couple of weeks before we ran the programme in the school," he explains. "We talked with them about internet safety, answered questions and gave out help packs. A lot of parents weren't fully aware of the extent to which teenagers use social networking sites. Some were completely oblivious."

Stillman, however, is at pains to make clear that the Team Theatre group never go about highlighting issues like this in an alarmist way. “It is our policy not to be didactic in our work,” she says. “We don’t want to tell people how to behave, just inform them of things they mightn’t have been immediately aware of.”

• For more information visit www.thegetrealproject.ie or www.teamtheatre.ie

Flaming and Trolling: Some of the very real cruelty that happens online

According to the Get RealResource Pack, the following are the most frequent types of cyber bullying:

Flaming:Online fights using electronic messages with angry language.

Harassment:Repeatedly sending offensive, rude and insulting messages.

Cyberstalking:Repeatedly sending messages that include threats of harm or are highly intimidating; engaging in other online activities that make a person afraid for his or her safety.

Denigration:"Dissing" someone online. Sending or posting cruel gossip or rumours about a person to damage his or her reputation or friendships.

Exclusion:Intentionally excluding someone from an online group, like a "buddy list" or a game.

Trolling:Intentionally posting provocative messages about sensitive subjects to create conflict, upset people, and bait them into "flaming" or fighting.

Impersonation:Breaking into someone's account, posing as that person and sending messages to make that person look bad, get that person in trouble or danger, or damage that person's reputation or friendships.

Outing and Trickery:Sharing someone's secrets or embarrassing information online. Tricking someone into revealing secrets or embarrassing information, which is then shared online.