Issue 38 - Summer 2012 - Wigan Council

Protecting children from the perils of the WebPartnerscast thesafety ‘Net’WHEN Jenny met anew boyfriend atschool, she thought itwas the real thing.Five weeks into therelationship and everythingwas fine, they spent lots oftime together and when theywere apart they sent eachother lots of texts.The mobile phone was agreat way of staying in touch –it was something that just theyshared, that no-one else couldsee.So when 15 year-old Jennydecided to send an intimatephotograph of herself to herboyfriend’s phone, sheintended it for his eyes only.But a few weeks later wheninevitably the flame ofteenage infatuation began towane, Jenny was in for ashock.After breaking up, Jenny’sex-boyfriend decided to sharehis ‘special’ photo with hisfriends. Pretty soon it was allaround school.The embarrassment was toomuch for the young girl to bear.She was forced to take timeoff at a crucial moment in herschool career. With examslooming large it could haveserious consequences for herfuture plans.But that wasn’t all becauseonce the photo had beenshared; it just kept going. Soonit was on the internet andfacebook and what started outas a secret moment suddenlyhad a global audience…Jenny may not be the younggirl’s real name but thetraumatic events that unfoldedare and worryingly it’s thekind of tale that’s becomingincreasingly commonplace.In Wigan, the council andother partners who make upthe Wigan SafeguardingChildren Board (WSCB), aretrying to protect children andyoung people from the darkerside of internet and mobilephone use.The board’s businessmanager, Kath Vereycken,says: “Cases such as this areon the increase and theconsequences can be muchworse.“Abuse over the internetand social networking sitesand mobile phones is on theincrease.”The Wigan team iscommitted to tackling thescourge of child sexualexploitation and it’s a sign ofthe times that almost half ofall the cases they deal withnow involve a link with theweb, phones and socialnetworking.“Many of the cases we dealwith involve young peoplebeing ‘groomed’ online,” saysKath. “Using internet chatrooms and social networkingsites they think they aretalking to people of their ownage. Often the person they aretalking with will suggest theymeet up and it’s only whenthey do the young personrealises that the other personis much older than them andthey really only have oneintention.”The mobile phone version ofgrooming has earned the nickname ‘sexting’ – which givesyou an indication of what it’sall about.“Groomers can be verypatient and sometimes mayhave communicated withtheir intended victim formonths before arranging tomeet up,” says Kath.“They know all about thedifferent websites and chatrooms and use the sameinternet slang andabbreviations that youngpeople do.“They can send gifts andtry to make the young personfeel special.“When we find evidence ofthis we work to support theyoung person and we will nothesitate to prosecute thosewho prey on young peoplebut we believe the key tostopping this lies witheducating children and theirparents about the potentialdangers and how to takeprecautions.”FIND OUT MORE:There are a number of usefulwebsites that can provide moreinformation on all aspects ofinternet safety. A good startingplace is the police online SafetyCentre: www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centreA good site for parents andcarers is: www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/For tips on how to tackle cyber(or online) bullying visit WiganLeisure and Culture Trust’s LincOnline pages:www.wlct.org/WLCT/youngpeople/bullying-top-tips-to-beatcyber-bullies.htmlPARENTS: what you can doINTERNET and mobile phone safety covers manythings – bullying, contact from strangers,inappropriate or illegal images and websites.“Whatever the risk may be, it is important thatyou understand how your child uses the internet,”said Kath Vereycken.“The technology may seem daunting becausethings move so quickly but a few common-senseguidelines can really help.”ASK: Take an interest in your child’s internet use. Askthem about the websites they use and what socialactivity they are engaged in. You can then visit these sitesand spaces on your own to find out more about them.PRIVACY PLEASE: The Internet is a very publicglobal market-place, so photos you post on socialsites like Facebook can easily be copied and pastedelsewhere. Sites like this come with privacy settingsthat prevent anyone from seeing your content, get toknow them and encourage your child to use them.FRIENDS: People don’t always tell the truth onlineand can create fake identities. It is important thatchildren understand this and learn not to trust virtualfriends in the same way they would their actual friends.PARENTAL CONTROLS: Web browsers, mobilephones and games consoles all come with controlsthat prevent children viewing inappropriate content.These are often easy to set up but if you need helpcontact your internet provider.TALK: Tell your child it’s ok to talk about what theysee online or on their phone. By making it easy forthem to communicate they are more likely to let youknow if they have any concerns.16 BOROUGH LIFE Summer 2012