Internet Safety
Sarah Phillips
In this paper you will find out the folowing:
Personal Information
Starngers
A quarter of teenagers have met up with a stranger they got to know via the internet, a survey reveals. Twenty-one per cent of girls and 28 per cent of boys put themselves at risk from paedophiles by meeting so-called "cyber friends" in person. The figures, based on interviews with 15 to 16-year- olds, show youngsters routinely ignore warnings about the dangers of social networking on the Web. The findings back up a report by Ofcom earlier this week which revealed parents are alarmingly ignorant of the danger posed to children by such sites. The study of sites such as Bebo, Facebook and MySpace showed more than a quarter of children aged eight to 11 are bypassing online age restrictions.
It found youngsters - who think they are "invincible" - are putting personal details about themselves online and even meeting strangers. The Home Office has now announced that perverts who prey on children will be made to hand over email addresses to social networking sites. These sites will then be able to ban them from their services or monitor their behaviour after police pass on their details. If the offenders do not give their email address, or give incorrect ones, they will face up to five years in prison.