The development of social media has redefined the way we communicate in the 21^st century, particularly among teenagers.

But while our teens are more tech-savvy than their parents could ever have hoped to be, many remain unprepared emotionally and in terms of maturity to cope with the new pressures that social media can bring.

The connected world can be a suffocating one for a vulnerable young person who feels they cannot escape it even in the safety of their own home.

And parents can too often feel overwhelmed by the pace of change to be sure where to start offering advice to their kids to help them navigate the new world.

That’s where a special workshop to be held on Tuesday night at the Bathurst PCYC comes in.

It’s part of a statewide PCYC campaign to boost awareness of the dark side of the internet and open a discussion about internet safety.

The main topics include the legal and ethical implications of online actions and it will tackle disturbing areas such as online grooming and cyber bullying, along with the important question of where to get help.

There would be few parents – and children – in Bathurst who could not benefit from the workshop, particularly in light of the distressing Amy “Dolly” Everett case in recent weeks.

Australia was shocked and saddened by the story of the 14-year-old who took her life on January 3 after being bullied online, and chilled to think that it could happen to any family.

The issue does not seem to be that today’s children are more cruel than previous but, rather, that they have greater access to the targets of their bullying than ever before.

Specialists in social media strategy offer practical tips for parents to make their kids safer, such as closely monitoring the children’s social media use and keeping family computers in common areas of the house.

But even these tips are outdated in a world where nearly every teen has a smartphone in their pocket and more social media accounts than they would ever dare tell their folks.

So perhaps the best tool in the modern world is the oldest one – open lines of communication. And some advice from the experts at the PCYC might be helpful as well.