Internet safety advice

Pupils at your school are meeting strangers online, in gaming websites, chatrooms and forums. They may also be seeking help from dubious websites over issues like self harm or eating disorders.

They wouldn't invite these people into their home if they met them in the street but internet friendships tend to develop quickly and can be intense, particularly if there are shared interests and the child may be feeling isolated and upset due to losing their friends at school through bullying.

People pretend to be teenagersTalk to the pupils about chatrooms and ask how they know that John aged 14 who wants to be their new best friend really is a teenager and not Frank aged 57?

Talk to girls in particular about the people they meet in website forums. Do they have emotional worries that the school or their parents need to talk over with them, are they relying on help from other young people or, more worryingly, from older people who flock to these forums with their amateur and sometimes harmful 'counselling' methods?

Unfortunately, there have been cases where adults have pretended to be teenagers and lured young people into meeting them in dangerous situations. Some of these cases have ended up in court in the UK.

Bullying UK has had experience of young people using the internet who have been persuaded into dangerous situations by adults. This is an offence called 'grooming'.

Top safety tips

Never give out your real name Never tell anyone where you go to school Only meet someone from a chatroom in a public place with one of your parents or another adult.

Never give out your address or telephone number Never agree to meet anyone from a chatroom on your own Tell an adult if someone makes inappropriate suggestions to you or makes you feel uncomfortable online

Danger signs

If the person tries to insist on having your address or phone number If the person wants you to email them pictures of yourself or use a webcam in a way which makes you feel uncomfortable If the person shares information with you and tells you not to tell anyone else about it If the person wants to meet you and tells you not to let anyone know

If the person emails you pictures which make you feel uncomfortable and which you would not want to show to anyone else If the person wants to keep their chats with you secret If the person tells you that you will get into trouble if you tell an adult what has been going on

Teenagers who have found themselves in risky situations on the internet have told us they are afraid to tell their parents in case their computer is taken away. Explain to them it's vital they tell you about any problems they have come across with adults online because other young people may also be at risk.

All police forces now have hi-tech crime units. Print out any dubious or worrying material and report it.

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

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