Internet Contacts

As you cannot see the person with whom you are in contact online you do not know if they are who they say they are, most users have nicknames, but even if they use a name, there's no guarantee it is their name!

 Newsgroups, Chat Rooms, Forums, and Instant Messenger

Are very popular with children, and they run the risk that paedophiles and sex abusers use them to look for victims. They might pose as children or teenagers and strike up a friendship and eventually persuade them to meet up. Even if they are honest about their age, there is no guarantee their intentions are honourable. They may strike up a shared interest ie football, discos, clubs, etc and use the it to meet the child. The consequences can be extremely serious. These relationships can build up over several months. Before any arrangements are made to meet up. There have been a number of cases in the news where older men have built up a relationship with a child...this is known as "grooming" before meeting.

Surfing the internet from the comfort of the home or via a mobile phone can give you a false sense of security.
Newsgroups are like online noticeboards, where you can post, read and exchange messages about a particular topic of interest. Chat rooms let people communicate across borders and time zones about a wide range of topics. Chat is real-time text-based communication across the Internet.Both newsgroups and chat rooms can involve communicating with total strangers. The people online may not be who they seem and everything they say online may not be true. It is very easy for someone who you chat to online to misrepresent him- or herself. Thus, someone indicating that "she" is a "12-year-old girl" could in reality be a 40-year-old man. So children should be educated about appropriate behaviour in these environments, and especially about the dangers of providing personal information.

There are some very simply rules that children should be taught to follow:

1. Not to give out personal information such as their address, telephone number, parents’ work address/telephone number, or the name and location of their school.
   

2. To tell their parents right away if they come across anything that makes them feel uncomfortable.
   

3. Never to agree to get together with someone that they "meet" online without first checking with their parents. If, as a parent, you agree to the meeting, you need to be sure that it is in a public place and that a parent goes along.
   

4. Never to send a person that they “meet” online a picture or anything else without first checking with their parents.
   

5. Not to respond to any messages that are mean or in any way make them feel uncomfortable. If they do they should be encouraged to tell you right away so that you can contact the online service for them to investigate.

Again you can use content filtering software, like the ones mentioned above, to block access to some or all newsgroups and/or chat rooms.

However, there is a growing number of moderated chat rooms which are supervised by moderators or hosts who keep and eye on what is said and that the rules are observed. These moderators will warn people if they are breaking the rules of the chat room and can, if necessary, ban a person from the chat room.

Online Friends

Its is easy to meet people over the internet and swap email addresses and personal details, and even images. Children can strike up many friendships via newsgroups, chat rooms, forums, instant messaging and online gaming. These chat conversations are usually typed and not spoken, and they are instantaneous conversations. people can also leave messages for people to read on a notice board or a private message. These conversations can be one to one or one to many. Some chat rooms are moderated whilst others are not.

Therefore, it is important to be aware of the dangers, stress that everyone they meet in a chat room is a stranger, and use a safe code on conduct when using these messaging websites.
(See safety tip)

Personal Details

Children can unwittingly give away personal details, such as where they go to school or where they live, as they begin to trust someone they don't know and willingly give them the details. They could also give out their email addresses or yours....and most people use their full name in their email address! This increases the risk of receiving unwanted emails from strangers.

Internet Content

How safe is the content of these websites?
My child copies information for homework, is this information suitable?
The vast majority of the internet is legal and decent and honest, but it is very easy to stumble across unsuitable material and images whilst looking for information. This could include violent, racist, pornography, inaccurate and harmful information.
There is material that is clearly illegal, such as child abuse, such as images of child abuse. As well as downloading illegal software and music files.

Viruses and Hackers

Computer Viruses or even people hacking into your computer, (someone gaining illegal access into your computer to add, read or change files), these viruses can causeserious damage to your computer. Some viruses can hand over complete control of your computer to someone who can use it for their own purposes for example send spam to others.
Playing online games and using chat or messengers are times when your computer is particularly vulnerable to a hack attack.

Ground Rules

Set up some ground rules for surfing on the internet.
Reassure them that they can talk to you if they see something unsuitable or if a stranger asks them for personal details or to meet them.

Prevention is better than cure!

Use a good Firewall, Anti Virus software and update your Windows Updates and Anti virus definitions regularly.