Is your child safe on the Internet?
The internet offers great advantages by providing a wealth of information to children and young people.
The internet is like a vast library which is easy to access in the comfort of your own home or wherever you have access to a computer.
Unfortunately, whilst the internet offers many opportunities for our children, it can also leave them vulnerable to harm from computer sex offenders.
Parents and carers need to be aware of these problems and know what to do. The National Children's Home (NCH) has a website which provides a parent’s guide to the internet, this includes a background to the internet and the potential dangers of using the internet. It provides Net Smart Rules which you can share with your children, all this can be found at www.nch.org.uk.
What you should do if you suspect your child is in contact with a computer sex offender on line
Talk to your child about your concerns and explain the dangers as outlined in the National Children's Home website.
Establish what is on your child's computer or, if you do not know how to do this, ask someone who has the ability to help.
If your child has been sexually solicited by someone, or has received sexually explicit images from someone, or if your child or anyone in the household has received child pornography, you should contact the police immediately.
The police have the ability to interrogate computers and produce evidence of their use in such circumstances.
Useful Internet Sites
