Internet Safety - What are the Challenges Facing Professionals?
Last updated | 15/09/2011
The challenge facing professionals involved in the protection
of children is twofold.
Firstly, new technology makes children far more
accessible to those who wish to abuse them. It is more
anonymous and it may act as a vehicle for groups of abusers to
communicate with one another and provide mutual
legitimisation.
Secondly, the new technology introduces
new methods to the way in which abusers organise their
abuse. This has implications for practice, policies and
procedures, both for investigation and for the subsequent
assessment and treatment of the victims.
Areas of Concern in Internet and Mobile Phone Technology
- Children who view adult pornography
- Images of children sold on-line for sexual abuse off-line
- Children abused through prostitution using the internet and
mobile phones to contact their abusers
- Adults or young people who engage in 'cyber sex' with
children
- Young people who place images of other young people
on-line
- Children living in the same household as adults who download or
distribute sexually abusive images of children
- Children groomed on-line for sexual abuse off-line
- Children sold on-line for live sexual abuse on-line
- Children made the subject of child abuse images.
Advice for Practitioners
It is important that children understand the risks and can make
sensible and informed choices on-line. In a constantly
changing technological landscape it is difficult to keep pace with
change and criminal activity, and it is recommended that the CEOP
website (http://www.ceop.gov.uk) and the
Thinkuknow website (http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk)
are stored in the favourites link of both your PC and the PCs
of children in your care in order to keep appraised of
developing trends and criminal methods of operation.
DO's
- Do try and get up to speed with new technologies through
self-learning.
- Do encourage children to keep personal details to a minimum
when on-line and only allow trusted friends access to social
network pages.
- Do reassure a child that they are not to blame if they have had
unwanted sexual contact whilst on-line
- Do take possession of the device, computer, mobile phone, etc
to prevent further activity and preserve evidence.
- Do refer to the designated child protection
officer within the school if an internet issue occurs.
DONT's
- Don't challenge any on-line abuser, you may alert them and
compromise a criminal investigation
- Don't try and interrogate computers, mobile phones or other
devices; you may contaminate or destroy evidence
- Don't try and initiate an investigation but instead contact the
police as soon as possible and explain the circumstances
- Don't ignore the issue, children elsewhere may still be at
risk.
