Dangerous websites

Anyone can set up a professional-looking website. All it takes is a simple software package and a couple of hours. Bullying UK has come across some websites which have given dangerous and in some cases lethal advice.

Just because these sites don't contain unsuitable content doesn't mean they are safe. There are no laws to protect young people who go to these websites looking for help.

The people who run these websites are not usually checked by the Criminal Records Bureau as they would have to be if they were working with young people in real life, and they're not registered charities. They may also be based abroad rather than in the UK.

Bullying UK has come across many websites which caused us serious concern. Some pose such risks to the young people using them that we've reported them to the police and social services.

Websites which were risky included:

A fun website run by an adult posing as a teenage girl A self harm website for young people run by a bogus teacher An anti-bullying website asking pupils to part with personal information A self harm website with links to graphic pictures of self inflicted injuries	A site offering help to teenagers self harming run by a woman who also posted in other places on the internet telling people how to kill themselves Several websites claiming to be charities which were private businesses A website where the owner wrongly advised parents they couldn't be prosecuted if they kept their child off school due to bullying

There's no reason why any genuine website would need to keep contact with a young person secret from the young person's parents, unless it was run by an organisation to which they might be revealing abuse by their carers.

The same rules apply on websites as they do in chatrooms. Teenagers shouldn't give out any personal details like their name, address, phone number or school.

More advice

Your pupils might be excited to think they could win a prize by filling in their details on a website but advise them not to do it. Not only might they get a lot of junk emails (spam) but their contact details may be sold to someone else. Above all, tell them to be very careful about taking advice from websites. Unless there's a section telling them who runs the site and what their expertise is, they may not have any. Some websites, particularly those with teenage forums, can give dangerous advice. The people trying to help are probably well intentioned, but if a young person is upset, depressed, having a bad time in a relationship or at school, they need the best help they can get, and that might be face-to-face or from a recognised charity.

If a website explains how to delete their visit from the computer's history file pupils should be very wary. Why should it matter who knows that they've been to the site unless they're visiting a charity like the NSPCC where they want to tell them that someone has been mistreating them? Advise them not to take any medical advice from a website, the best people to help with worries about their health are their parents and family doctor who know them best. Explain that the website owner and all the people using the website should always be happy for parents to know that young people are contacting them and should never offer to do anything on their behalf without their parents knowing about it.

Contact us on help@bullying.co.uk if you need more help.

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