Thinkuknow Website. At Home and on the Internet. Children are at risk in three key areas; inappropriate contact with strangers, friends and peers involved in online bullying and inappropriate sharing of images and personal information.
When a child enters a social networking site or chat room they are making themselves available to any adult with internet access around the world. This is a difficult concept for many children, and even some adults, to understand.
This information is designed to help you be aware of the dangers your child may be exposed to, when using the internet at home. Online chat rooms and social networking sites can be dangerous places for unsupervised children who have not received adequate guidance and training.
Grooming is when a child abuser tries to start an online relationship with a child. Blocking access to unsupervised chat rooms, blogs and forums is a good way to help stop this.
Sometimes though, groomers pretend to be children in supervised chat areas - then continue a relationship in personal conversations known as whispering. Once trust has been established the abuser may try to organise a meeting with the child, or exploit them by sending them pornographic images or by using a webcam. They may even use blackmail to persuade the child to do something they don't want to. It is vital that children know that not everyone on the internet is actually who they claim to be.
