Internet safety for schoolchildren

A HARD-HITTING programme teaching school-children how to use the internet safely and report any approaches by predatory paedophiles directly to the police has been launched in the North — but there are no plans yet for a compulsory programme of that kind in schools on this side of the border.

The “ThinkuKnow” programme has been developed by the Child Exploitation and Online Centre (CEOP) and will be available to 11-15 year olds, 90,000 at present, in every school across the North.

They will be taught by the police, child protection specialists and teachers of the perils of sex predators who target young people, particularly on chatrooms.

As part of the programme, the children will have access to two DVDs demonstrating how paedophiles befriend children on the internet.

The programme website, www.thinkuknow.co.uk, also includes a report abuse link which will go straight to CEOP who can then forward it to police.

However, according to Jerome Morrissey of the National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE), there is no plans for a course here.

However, he outlined a number of measures which are in the pipeline for the next few months.

* In the coming weeks, the NCTE will distribute a major poster and information pack to all schools.

* In February it will role out a new website aimed specifically at children allowing them to discuss internet safety with peers.

* In March, the Government will roll out the new version of its makeitsecure.ie website which compiles information from major industry players such as Dell, to provide internet safety tips for children, parents and adult users.