Help for Cable customers

Social networking sites are taking the Internet by storm, largely because of their popularity with kids and teens. However, they are also attracting "groomers" who pretend to be kids in order to stalk young people and abuse them.

What exactly are social networking sites?

It's a rather long name but it means sites which allow people to put up information about themselves such as interests, favourite music, photo galleries and diaries. People make friends by adding new contacts to their list of friends, giving them access to personal information and then chatting via instant message or email. Some sites even allow users to chat via webcam.

Popular social networking sites include Facebook, Twitter, Google+, MySpace, Bebo, Faceparty, Friendster, Orkut and MSN Spaces among an ever increasing number of new sites.

What are the dangers?

• Child abusers making friends with kids. If a child puts the name of their school and where they hang out on the Internet this gives "groomers" lots of ways of making friends with them (pretending to be kids themselves) and contacting them.
  
• Bullying. If a bully gets hold of a kid's private pictures or diary then they can use this to be cruel and send round to others with unpleasant messages and so on.
  
• Making a fool of yourself. If people put up pictures of themselves, or write personal diaries then they need to remember that, apart from their friends, there are other people who may use this information in a nasty way.

How can you or your kids stay safe?

• Don't let young kids use social networking sites. Many sites say you should be over 14 or even 16. Most parental control programs block these sites.
  
• Don't add unknown people to your friends list. Only add people who are your "real" friends (not people you meet on the Internet) to your friends list or provide access to your area.
  
• Don't meet up with people you meet on the Internet. If kids must do it, make sure an adult comes along, at least for the first time.
  
• Remember that people aren't always who they say they are. The worst is that they may be child abusers "grooming" and so pretending to be kids in order to meet up, or they may be people who are bullies wanting to be unkind or even criminals who want to defraud you. If people are unpleasant you should be able to block them from contacting you.
  
• Don't put your personal information on your site. Don't put your address, mobile number, school name and things like where you hang out - people may use this against you.
  
• Tell people what you are doing. Kids should tell their parents about what is going on and who they are chatting with. Likewise, parents should be open so that kids feel comfortable talking about what goes on, so they have someone to turn to who won't over-react.
  
• Report abuse. Find out how you can report bad behaviour on the site you are using or if it's more serious to the authorities. Kids should talk to an adult they trust about bullying.
  
• Keep your privacy. Never use your real name or anything that could identify you age or gender. Instead you should use random screen names like “wiseapple” or “soccerfan”.
  
• Hide your whereabouts. Never reveal which town you live in, and never post photos that could provide clues about your location, or the school or clubs you attend.

Reporting abuse links:

Tips for parents

Tips for kids

Virgin Media Security Parental Control

Think U Know

Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre