Our Digital World
By Katie Crawford
AGE OF CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY
10 years old is the age of criminal responsibility. Once you reach this age, people expect you to take responsibility for your action,this also means getting punished for them. At the age of ten you should undrstand the consequences of a bad action. If you are rude to your parents you sh expect a punishment and thats just what its like in the world of crime. At the age of ten you may not go to prison but you may be banned from a place or seperated from someone.
Age of Concent
At the Age of 16 you are legally allowed to have sexual activity. However under that age it is illegal. There is no defence for anyone who is having sex with someone that they know is under 16. Anyone who is doing this may be prosecuted. If both people are under the age of 16, you can be prosecuted. This might include being put on the sex offenders register and getting a criminal record.If someone is sexually touching a person under 16 years old or asking them to do a sexual act, this is also against the law and the person can be prosecuted under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
Under 13
If someone is acting in a sexual way to a person under 13 or asking them to do a sexual activity i.e. Taking your top off, this is against the law and the person can be prosecuted .
Sexting
'Sexting' (sending a sexual photo of yourself or someone else via text) is against the law as whoever has that picture on their phone, is in possession of an indecent image of a child. If the people involved in sexting are under 18, this is illegal (even if the person is your boyfriend or girlfriend). If you have sent it to your boy driend and he sends it someone else etc. You could all be prosecuted
Cyber Bullying
If you are experiencing cyber bullying then you must tell an adult or carer or any one that you can trust. Cyber bullying is bullying online. Bullys hide behind the screen so that people dont know who they are. Cyber bullying can be anything from saying rude things about your appearance or sexual messages that make you feel uncomforatble.
If you need help with things like cyber bullying or sexting then the think you know website can really inform you.
Social Networking Sites
Social Networking sites are websites that help you keep in contact with your friends using different things like blogs, profiles, messages and photos.
Popular social networking sites include Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sites like these have become really popular among people of all ages and quite often people have a number of profiles on different sites.
Creating your profile
Firstly, you sign up and create your own profile. Often, these contain standard sections like, things you like and about me. There are usually areas where you can write things like favourite Music, Films, Sports, . You can add specific personal details like photos of yourself, and which school you go to. You can also have your own blog where you write daily thoughts or include things you find interesting.
A big part of making your profile is uploading pictures onto your site. One of your pictures can be used as your profile picture and will be shown when someone opens your profile . It will also appear next to your user-name on comments, messages, etc.
Most sites count your friends and give you a list of who they are. Usually you can click on your friend and go staright to their profile.You can also add personalised films and youtube videos too. Being on a social networking site can be great, but if you give out the wrong information it can be dangerous.
What can go WRONG
Be careful what information you give out on your profile. You don’t know who your friend’s friends or your friends freinds friends friends ect! And you don’t know what they’ll do with your picture or your phone number if you give it out by mistake.
Be aware that information on your profile could potentially be viewed by anyone. So if you wouldn’t be comfortable printing it off and handing it out on the street, maybe it shouldn’t be on your profile.
Be careful who you agree to accept as a friend. Unfortunately because there are so many young people using these sites, adults with bad intentions will use them to make contact with children too.Only add people who you know are your friends. And dont give any personal information out even to them.
How to look out for Pretenders
If someone you dont know adds you always check their profile first. The signs of a pretender (another person pretending to be someone else) are they do not update things often and will not have much on thier wall/blog. They profile pictures will be different or of different people i.e. models.
If you are worried about something that is happening to you online, you can report it through ClickCEOP. This goes to the ceop company and they acess the situation. They then sort out the sitiuation the way they think is right.