E-safety of Children: Risks and Protection

Electronic devices and the Internet have become an integral part of everyday lives during the past decades. As children and young people use mobile phones and the Internet without constant adult supervision we have to make sure they are prepared for the potential risks and know how to use these devices safely.

E-safety issues include potential dangerous contacts and commercial activities that children can fall victims to. According to statistics, half of the young people questioned say they have given out personal information (full names, ages, email address, phone numbers, hobbies or names of their school) to somebody they met on the Internet. These children can easily be misled by a potential child groomer who poses as another child of their age from the same area, gaining their trust and getting close to them. Their intentions may vary from downloading personal photos to as far as child trafficking but in any case they pose a great threat on children.

By contrast, only five per cent of parents think their children have given out personal information on the Internet, showing the fact that parents are not really aware of their children’s online activities. This negligence can lead to children being abducted or abused by child groomers who can contact them online, on their mobile phones or even personally looking them up at their school. The aim of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) is to have a centralised collection of details of Internet-related abuse in the UK and to help to stop these kinds of activities.

Nevertheless, children can fall victim to their own peers via Internet and mobile phones as well when they become targets of cyber bullying. Statistics shows that it is becoming a more and more serious problem as in 2008 one-fifth of children were cyber-bullied. This can happen through emails, text messages, telephone calls and social networking sites by sending degrading messages or posting humiliating comments or pictures about a person. It is also a problem that children have to be prepared to deal with and ask for appropriate help when needed.

Sadly, real tragedies can occur due to carelessly disclosed information on the Internet and social networking sites and measures have to be taken to prevent these to happen to our children. In 2009 a young girl was murdered after befriending her attacker online and sharing personal details about herself. That is why children have to be reminded not to record personal information on the Internet, and share information about the school or club they are attending only with people they know personally. Adults can help by checking and monitoring their children’s online activity and using privacy settings to control who can see their personal details.

When pupils are using the Internet in the school setting, teachers have to make sure they do not share information with strangers and use the World Wide Web appropriately. A policy for using ICT in school can give useful guidelines to children in their online activities. A policy like this should include using ICT only for school purpose, acting responsibly, making sure all contact is polite, not looking for or saving nasty things, not giving out one’s own details, not arranging to meet anyone, and informing the teacher about any messages the child finds suspicious.

Commercial content on the Internet can also pose a threat, by persuading the young one to buy products, games or services they do not necessarily need. Older children who already have debit cards are more at risk of spending money on useless things or even being tricked into giving out their card details on unreliable websites and fall victim to card fraud. Younger children without access to a bank account can still be tricked when playing online and winning vouchers and game credits. They might subscribe to a game by accident and receive bills to pay for them. Therefore parents have to control what websites the children can visit, and making them aware not to enter their address and card details to a website without consulting the parents.

When using an expensive mobile phone in a public place, a child might be at risk by falling victim to theft and not only losing an expensive device but also having personal contacts exposed to a stranger. They have to be careful not only where to use the phone but who to give their phone number out. They have to be aware what to do when they receive a phone call from a stranger. The best advice for them is to disconnect the call, inform the parents and have them to block the unfamiliar number from calling their child again.

New technological inventions in communication do make our life easier when we want to keep in touch with people we know; however, they also make it easier for strangers with dark intentions to contact our children. Therefore we have to make our children aware of the possible dangers of using the Internet and mobile phones, teach them to act responsibly and to ask for help whenever they feel to be exposed to people they do not know or to people who would possibly harm them.