How you can help protect children from predators

A recent article in your paper entitled “How do we protect kids from online predators? ” caught my attention as we are hearing more and more horrible stories about predators grooming children they have met online.

As we enter into the holiday season children will have more time to spend surfing the internet. Often when parents are asked to name the most frequented website visited by their child they don’t know the answer.

As children are naturally curious the internet has enabled them to obtain the information they need quicker and easier.

However, the ever present dangers are always lurking. We may not be able to see them as easily as one can with the naked eye, but these dangers lurk in emails, pictures and instant messages. Most predators will send pictures, emails and instant messages to unsuspecting children in an attempt to groom them before meeting with them face-to-face.

Some suspicious activities that can raise concerns are is your child turning off the monitor or changing the screen as soon as you walk into the room? Move the computer into a more open area where the family spend most of their time. This way you can monitor your child’s internet habits discreetly.

To determine what your child is looking at on the internet, sit down with them for a period of time this Christmas and ask them to show you their favourite websites. This can be the easiest way to determine if your child is at risk to online predators.

Maitias O’Luasaigh

Douglas

Cork