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(Please note that the internetsafetyzone.co.uk is not responsible for the content of external sites and parents are advised to assess the suitability of discussing individual news items with their kids before proceeding.)
Why do children love the Internet?
Children are growing up with the Internet as a normal part of life, using it at home, with friends and at school and exploring its amazing possibilities. The Internet has become a vital tool for fun, communication, information, entertainment and shopping, and is becoming a central part of the everyday lives of children and young people in today’s world. Most schools are now connected to the Internet, and whether in further education or a future job, they will almost certainly be expected to be confident users of computers and the Internet.
• Pornography
• Online grooming
• Cyberbullying
• Suspicions of child abuse
• Hate and Prejudice
• Illegal content
• Pro-anorexia sites and eating disorders
• Cyberstalking
• Privacy and data protection
• Identity Theft
Pornography
‘Children 'can access mobile porn' (BBC 02/02/06)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4671334.stm
Children can access internet porn via mobile phones due to a loophole in phone safeguards.
Mother wins ban on violent porn (BBC 30/0806)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/5297600.stm
A mother whose daughter died at the hands of a man obsessed with violent internet porn has won her fight for a ban on possessing such images.
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Online Grooming
Reporter met 'grooming' man, 41 (BBC 16/08/06)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4798719.stm
A film producer was confronted by a tabloid reporter after going to meet someone he thought was a 12-year-old girl in a park
Online chats 'indulged fantasy' (BBC 17/08/060)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/5261144.stm
A film producer accused of grooming a young girl over the internet said he entered chat rooms for "titillation".
Police praise paedophile's victim (BBC 22/06/06)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/5107386.stm
Senior officers who led the case against convicted paedophile Lee Costi have praised a schoolgirl for coming forward to report his actions.
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Cyberbullying
Striking back at the cyberbullies (BBC 16/04/06)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4912766.stm
A recent survey of school pupils estimated one in ten has admitted sending an abusive e-mail or text. The new form of harassment is causing misery to hundreds of schoolchildren but BBC Five Live Report found it is difficult for parents, teachers and anti-bullying groups to stop the cyberbullies.
Government acts on cyber-bullies (BBC 25/07/06)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/5210886.stm
The government is publishing guidelines to help schools, parents and pupils tackle the issue of "cyber-bullying".
Mother tackled bully on internet (BBC 29/09/06)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5295834.stm
More youngsters than ever before are complaining about bullying, latest figures from children's charity Childline show. When Kerry Kilsbywhite's daughter Mollie-Anna suffered terrible abuse from another girl at school the mother tackled the situation head-on.
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Suspicions of child abuse
'Park sting' paedophile is jailed (BBC 01/09/06)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/5306798.stm
A paedophile lured by police into meeting a non-existent girl in a park has been jailed for six years.
I looked at her page - and felt like a pervert (Telegraph 06/08/06)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/08/06/do0607.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2006/08/06/ixopinion.html
On Thursday morning, I had a chat with our work experience girl about Mark Bedford, the 21-year-old Canadian paedophile currently in court for abusing British girls online. Bedford met his victims in chatrooms designed specifically for children. Posing as a young girl, he would encourage his new pals to send him photographs of themselves naked, then, when they complied, he'd threaten to post the pictures to their parents unless they sent more graphic shots, which most of the time they did.
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Hate and Prejudice
Most hate crimes 'not reported' (BBC 16/08/06)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4795907.stm
Most hate crimes motivated by racism and prejudice are not reported because the victims "lack confidence" in the police, a charity study has indicated.
Montreal activists move to shut down website (Victoria Times 21/08/06)
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=d765e6ba-f822-47d9-8616-09fadc559f56&k=58487
MONTREAL -- A website that highlights black criminal suspects in Quebec is now itself a target -- to be shut down. The Canadian Human Rights Commission agreed to start an inquiry into the website, dossiernoir.blogspot.com, after the Montreal-based Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations lodged a complaint last week.
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Illegal content
US 'worst' for online child abuse (BBC 20/07/06)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5195460.stm
More than 50% of online images of child abuse reported to an internet watchdog can be traced to the US.
How net providers stop child porn (BBC 07/02/06)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4689386.stm
Tracking and blocking websites which feature child pornography brings together domestic users, police forces, internet security professionals and internet service providers (ISPs).
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Pro-anorexia sites and eating disorders
Sinister chat rooms encourage starvation (BBC 08/02/06)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2005/02_february/08/wiwo.shtml
A Chepstow teenager who suffers with anorexia is warning others about the dangers of internet groups that encourage starvation.
BBC probe into anorexia websites (BBC 08/02/05)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4245109.stm
An investigation by a BBC Wales programme has revealed sinister online groups are threatening the lives of youngsters with eating disorders.
Dangers of pro-anorexia websites (bbc 21/08/04)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3580182.stm
People who set up pro-anorexia websites which dissuade sufferers from seeking help should be sued, according to a group which helps people overcome eating disorders.
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Cyberstalking
Stalker had sophisticated cyber plan (BBC 20/05/06)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3040623.stm
One computer, five phones and a sophisticated plan for stalking were used by cyber stalker David Cruz to harass his friend.
Cyberstalking: Pursued in cyber space (BBC 26/06/99)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/378373.stm
Angela Westwater was stalked by a man who lived 5,000 miles away on another continent.
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Privacy and data protection
Will convenience beat privacy? (BBC 26/01/06)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4649292.stm
Byte by byte, the internet is taking away our privacy - but is that a good or a bad thing?
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Identity Theft
ID theft 'costs UK £1.7bn a year' (BBC 02/02/06)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4672622.stm
Identity fraud is costing the UK an estimated £1.7bn every year, Home Office Minister Andy Burnham has said.
Privacy traders 'must be jailed' (BBC 12/05/06)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4762937.stm
Jail sentences of up to two years are needed to combat the huge black market trade in details about people's private lives, says a government watchdog.
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Sources: Cyberspace Research Unit
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