News / Internet safety events
SHETLAND’s child protection committee is holding two further internet safety awareness sessions to help prevent young people from being sexually exploited online.
The first such session called #VirtuallySafe#VirtuallySound was held last year and was well attended by young people.
Similar events will now be held at the junior high schools at Mid Yell on 23 September and at Sandwick on 9 October.
Following this, events will be held for parents and the pubic to provide awareness to equip parents to protect and keep their children safe from abuse when online.
Child protection committee chairman and police chief inspector Lindsay Tulloch said the events would provide excellent information and guidance to keep people safe.
“We have seen a significant increase in the number of children and young people referred to children services having received indecent images or have shared such images while online,” he said.
“It is a criminal offence to send or share such images to any person and we must do everything we can to provide information and awareness to young people and parents in order to protect them from this growing trend of criminality.
“The internet and social media play a significant part in any young person’s life today and I would offer some simple advice on how to keep safe online:
- Don’t use offensive or intimidating comments;
- Think about the pictures you upload and who you share them with;
- Don’t share private, personal or confidential information or material online which you wouldn’t be happy for your family or friends to see;
- Be careful how much you reveal about where you are and what you are doing;
- Prospective employers may view your social media profiles;
- Remember deleting data does not always guarantee permanent removal.”
Further information on keeping safe online can be found on the Safer Shetland website at www.safershetland.com.
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