The Internet is a wonderful thing, without the internet I would never have found support when I had PND. The local NHS let me down badly and there was no support but I found it online and I am still friends with the people I met online. That is how the internet works for you, Don't ever use the internet to self diagnose yourself though! How many times have we had a headache and then self diagnosed a brain tumour?
But getting back to Tilly and her internet experience, she explained to me that there are CEOP buttons on some children's websites these days and if you feel like you're in danger, you press the button. This then reports the bad experience to the right authorities. How did I not even know about this button? How many other parents don't know about the button? CEOP is short for The Child Exploitation and Online Protection, these guys are the ones responsible for bringing online sex offenders to justice and helping to keep our kids safe, Don't forget that its not just kids of Tilly's age that are at risk, my older daughter was 16 when she was groomed. Still a child in the eyes of the law, yet I thought she was old enough to use the internet without supervision - I made an unwise choice.
Even without the CEOP button, you can go to their website and report a page.
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Stock Image Pixabay/lcr3cr |
If anyone wants your name or details, press the CEOP button or turn the tablet or phone over and go and get a grown up
If anyone says anything scary to you, press the CEOP button or turn the tablet or phone over and go and get a grown up
If anyone asks to meet you, press the CEOP button or turn the tablet or phone over and go and get a grown up.
If anyone seems like they are not really as friendly as they seem, press the CEOP button or turn the tablet or phone over and go and get a grown up.
If anyone is pressuring you to reveal things about yourself that you don't feel comfortable with press the CEOP button or turn the tablet or phone over and go and get a grown up
If anyone asks for pictures of you press the CEOP button or turn the tablet or phone over and go and get a grown up.
Tilly did say to me that she is sad that her sister didn't know about the CEOP button or the help she could get from the police, and it is sad that as well as all the other stresses and dangers that kids have to face everyday, they also have to face problems online too. When I look back to my childhood, all we had to worry about was stranger danger, and not get in a van with a man who promises to show you some puppies! Now there seems so many more dangers in the world for our kids. We can all put child safety features on to computers, limit our kids phone data, take tablets away from them at bedtime - but kids will always find a way to get online! They will ask friends to go online for them. The best thing you can do is discuss internet safety with your children, you need to make sure that they can come to you if they feel like they are in danger.
We have been using this website www.thinkuknow.co.uk to watch age appropriate video's about how to use the internet safely and also it has links to Childline. If you are worried about a child online, you can also contact CEOP and share your worries, between us we can all work towards making it harder for online sex offenders to reach our children.
It is a big responsibility of parents and guardians to protect kids when they are online, so they monitor what children are doing and also need to know about using parental control techniques that prevents direct access to adult related or violence related stuff on the web space. Also, teach them how to use the internet, and maintain communication with friends and family, without getting into trouble.
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