On-line Safety

Recently a young girl befriended an older man over the internet. This led to her leaving home and accompanying him to France. With this in mind it is advisable that parents are aware of who their children are befriending on-line and how much time they spend on social networking sites such as ‘Facebook’ and on Instant Messenger sites such as ‘MSN’.

The easiest way for parents to do this is to have the computer used by their children in a central, open place in the house where Internet activity and usage can easily be monitored rather than have the child tucked away in their room and parents not know what they are doing on–line. Essentially, we keep our kids safe by locking the door at night, but they are then exposed to potential hazards on-line. Have conversations with your children about their on-line habits, who they are speaking to and most crucially if they feel uncomfortable what they can do – speak to parents, teachers even the police.

If you want any further advice on this please do contact me at school and I will try and help.

Mr Veldtman