Online Safety
The Internet allows people to be anonymous; allowing people to disguise or completely make up their identities on the web, and predators can all too easily fool a child.
If you are a parent, be absolutely aware that chatting online without adult supervision can be dangerous for children.
Research by the University of Central Lancashire found that 20 per cent of children aged 9-16 use chat rooms. Disturbingly, one in 10 of those had agreed to meet someone they talked with on-line. British courts now see at least one case of child abuse resulting from chat room introductions every month.
Research shows that paedophiles often pose as teenage boys to win the confidence of their victims in some of the 100,000 chat rooms currently in operation on the Internet. On top of that, one in five chat room messages is pornographic. People who click on apparently innocent messages are confronted by obscene images.
Paedophiles can pose as somebody much younger to initiate contact. With experience they can, over time, gather personal information that can help them identify a potential victim, can lie and can arrange meetings under false pretences.
The case of the former US Marine jailed in 2004 for abducting a 12-year-old he met on the Internet is by no means unique. He had spent months "grooming" the girl on-line before flying from America to meet her. They had initially come into contact on a 'virtual pet' website used by 16 million people worldwide.
MSN, who closed their chat rooms in the UK, warn that parents should not let young children chat in un-moderated chat rooms and should try to spend time familiarising themselves with their children's chat room habits on a regular basis.
Abuse of the Internet can easily slip under the guard of parents who are not aware what their children can get involved in while on the web. Industry leaders admit it is currently impossible to prevent the estimated 5 million youngsters who use the web from coming into contact with paedophiles.
- Instruct children NEVER to give out any personal information and to avoid posting anything that might help lead to their being identified.
- Encourage children to use aliases rather than their full names when setting up e-mail accounts and to avoid posting anything on the Internet which might identify their age, gender or location.
- NEVER allow a child to have an unsupervised meeting with anyone they meet on-line.
- Encourage your child to show you anything that upsets or disturbs them whilst online.
- Consider software that blocks sensitive personal information from being transmitted through your children's chat.
- Keep computers out of a child's bedroom and in a controlled environment.
- Safe - Staying safe involves being careful and not giving out your name, address, mobile phone number, school name or password to people online.
- Meeting someone you meet in cyberspace can be dangerous. Only do so with your parents'/carers' permission and then when they are present.
- Accepting e-mails or opening files from people you don't really know or trust can get you into trouble - they may contain viruses or nasty messages.
- Reliable - Someone online maybe lying about whom they are and information you find on the Internet may not be reliable.
- Tell your parent or carer if someone or something makes you feel uncomfortable or worried.
- The Home Office: www.thinkuknow.co.uk/home.htm
- MSN: www.msn.co.uk/msnhelp/staysafe
- Yahoo: yahooligans.yahoo.com/parents/communicate.html
- Internet Watch Foundation: www.iwf.org.uk/
He obtained the 13-year-old's mobile phone number after she signed up to an unregulated text chat room service and lured her to his home for unlawful sex.
