Sue Arnold, Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for Staffordshire has today supported proposals by Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England that children need help because they do not know how to deal with common problems they find online.
Mrs Arnold said:
“I ask all parents to consider ways to protect their children on line and on social media so they don’t become victims of bullying, scams or grooming. You wouldn’t let them ride a bike without stabilisers or helmet yet many parents take no safety precautions when their children visit social media sites every day of life.
Help for parents is available – we have launched Cyber Safe Staffordshire for people and businesses across Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent to avoid becoming victims. More information on cybercrime and how to avoid becoming a victim are available on http://www.staffordshire-pcc.gov.uk/cyber-safe-staffordshire/ and by following #CyberSafeStaffs”. If you are being bullied or threatened on line or through social media you can also report the matter to your provider who can stop the actions from continuing.
We know that bullying is of particular concern – our recent online survey showed that 18% of children admitting to having been bullied on line or by using social media.
Our adverts on Facebook with links to advice on the police web site about how to beat the cyber bullies got a huge response with nearly 79,000 people reading the adverts and over 18,000 women aged 18-44 with families then visited the police web site to view the “Are you aware of online bullying? Your child will be!” video which suggests that lots of mums are looking for advice about cyber bullying.
Young people also responded in big numbers with almost 11,000 13-18 year olds viewing the “Cyber bullying is not harmless fun” video, reflecting how many children are affected by cyber bullying”.
