Are your kids safe on social networks?

“Nearly a third of young people have received unwanted sexual comment online or by text.” This is the shocking statistic released by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP).

Sexual predators and cyberbullies roam freely on the internet and according to the CEOP “almost 60 per cent of
children access the internet every day”, so it’s a worrying situation for parents. Web sites like MySpace, Bebo and Facebook offer thousands of profiles; each of which often show a child’s name, age, location and more, that can be used by undesirables to aid them in finding and grooming victims.

So what’s the solution? “Social networking sites are here to stay and an increasing amount of young people are
now using them,” explains Chris Cloke, who works in Child Protection Awareness for the National Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). “Such sites can be a dangerous place for young people but we shouldn’t necessarily stop children from using them.”

Safe to surf

Tightening controls is one of the solutions, according to a spokeswoman from the CEOP. “We will be seeking new
safety features from web site operators. It’s not a question of closing them down; we’re just trying to stay one step ahead of those who are going online to exploit children.”

Elsewhere, the NSPCC is calling for child safety software to be part of every new PC built today. One of the big advantages of Windows Vista is that it comes with built-in Parental Controls (Start >Control Panel > User Accounts and Family Safety >Parental Controls), which help you to limit access and make the internet a safer
place for your children.

Article continues

You create a new account for each child, with Parental Controls activated, and then select what restrictions you
want to put in place. You can use the standard settings to block them from visiting certain web sites or using programs, or you can create a customised list that they can choose from.

“Software is making it safer for kids,” Cloke explains, “but it still needs to be better because kids are so savvy these days and often know more about it than their parents. Parental controls can be useful, but they certainly shouldn’t be relied upon.”

Internet instinct

That’s not to say that you have no control over what your kids do. Linda Criddle, Senior Product Manager for Child Safety at Microsoft, who wrote the book Look Both Ways: Help Protect Your Family on the Internet points out: “Just like a parent knows what it takes to keep their kids safe in the real world, the exact same things apply to the online world. There’s this idea that if you don’t know the internet inside out you can’t make informed choices for your children. Parents already have an inherent sense of what’s safe or not.”

Children will, by nature, try to look at or do things they’re not supposed to, but instead of trying to lock them out or
effectively spy on them, we should – where possible – attempt to understand their situation and talk things through instead.

“We need to communicate with children more,” says Cloke “They need to be aware that they shouldn’t give out highly personal information, and need to know that if they have a bad experience, they must tell someone about it –
even if it’s someone at school rather than a family member.”

If a child thinks he or she is in danger, there are many ways they can find help. The most obvious thing to do is contact the police directly. Alternatively, they can register a complaint with the social networking site they’re using, or on the CEOP web site at www.thinkuknow.co.uk. Make sure your child knows what they should do.

Add to del.icio.us | Digg This Article | Add to StumbleUpon