Last month it was announced that as of 2011 primary school children will be taught about internet safety, in a new scheme titled, 'Click Clever, Click Safe Programme,' based on the Green Cross Code road safety initiative.
As the age of children who are going online get younger by the year, dangers lurk in the dark corners of the internet that host adult material - innapropriate content, chatrooms and social networking sites and make it readily available to anyone - including children.
The newspapers constantly like to remind us of how the internet is harming our childrens' brains, or how sexual preditors are roaming chatrooms searching for their next victims.
Not forgetting how many children happen to be signing up to social networking sites these days - staging competitions to see who can add the most people and snatch the most friends.
Social networking sites have boomed over the past five years, but although sites like MySpace and Bebo say members must be at least 13 and 14 years old, there are no safety measures to check that the people signing up are indeed, over the age limits.
So, theoretically, anyone can sign up, and anyone can sign up pretending to be someone else. As research shows, parents often don't know what their children are getting up to online, or how long they are online for.
A new trend in the US is seeing children's social networking sites booming, Disney's Club Penguin is a site that was set up specifically for 6-14 year olds, whereby children, using cartoon penguins as avatars, get to waddle around a snow covered fantasy world chatting and playing with other children.
Plans are underway for a similar site to appear in the UK, but would you want your kids playing in a world beyond your control? Club Penguin actively promotes the security and safety of their site and their live chat rooms.
With more than a quarter of eight-11 year olds having a profile on a social network, these sites have been hailed as a convenient tool for school kids, especially those who find it hard to make friends, as the internet is a source where they can talk to people and get to know people, without feeling intimdated by face to face confrontation.
Stories often surface of youngsters meeting people from social networking sites, where it's easy for a grown adult to pretend to be under 18. Whilst there is a danger that needs to be taken seriously, it is not as widespread as the newspapers often make out.
Statistically child abusers are more likely to commit crimes against children they know, and targeting children on the internet is actually quite rare. A more common risk for children on social networking sites is bullying by peers, so just like one big cyber-playground - some kids are using the internet to target others.
Children have admitted to using the internet to help them with homework and listen to music, so restricting them from the internet altogether will only interrupt their creative juices.
The key is to let them roam the internet but to impose resrictions on what they can get up to whilst online. Banning the internet altogether will do no favours for anyone, especially as children can access the internet elsewhere.
Internet safety tips:
Set your own rules - You need to be firm with children about what they can and can't do, start by putting the computer somewhere where you can keep an eye on the sites they are visiting - such as in the living room.
Set rules whereby you can limit their access by giving them times that they can surf the internet and how long for. Talk to your children about which sites they can and can't visit. Make sure your children understand that this is a very serious topic, by imposing your own family internet policies.
Educate yourself - To set rules about the internet - you must firstly know about the internet yourself. Take the time out to learn about the websites your children are visiting, before you can make assumptions about them.
Use the information you learn to teach your kids how to be safe surfers, if you understand such sites to be safe or valuable, and discuss ways in which you can come to an agreement on the number of sites/which sites they visit.
Let them no the dangers - Scaring your kids isn't such a bad idea, remember when you used to tell them not to get into a strangers car? It's exactly the same thing.
Teach them what lurks in the sort of sites they visit, if they know the dangers, then they are unlikely to visit any other sites than what you tell them.
Communicate - It's hard to get out of children what they did at school, nevermind what they are getting up to online. But communication is the key to keep a steady relationship and to know if they are using the internet safely and for valid reasons!
Never go too personal - Tell your kids to shy away from releasing personal information about themselves, including interests, hobbies and personal photographs. Not forgetting the obvious: passwords, addresses, telephone numbers etc.
Teach them to be suspicious about anyone who may ask strange things in a chat room or send emails with attachments and links, and that if this does happen to bring it to your attention.
Female First
Jennifer Dixon
Tagged in children