Staffordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis is renewing his call for parents to take simple steps to help their children stay safe online.
Earlier this year the Commissioner sent information to every household across the county and Stoke-on-Trent with council tax bills which included advice about online safety.
This featured hard-hitting facts like: 60% of 13-year-olds have been asked for a sexual picture or video of themselves, one in three of a child’s social networking friends are people they’ve never met and 75% per cent of parents don’t know how to keep their children safe online.
The issue is again highlighted in new national research, released this week by the NSPCC, which asked young people about the impact of online pornography, including sharing images of themselves online. It found that 65% of 15 to 16 year-olds questioned and 28% of 11 to 12-year-olds had seen pornography, and that children were more likely to stumble across material (28%) than deliberately search for it (19%).
Details about how parents can help their children stay safe online are available now through the www.knowaboutcse.co.uk website which was launched in Staffordshire in February.
Mr Ellis said: “Taking simple steps to improve online safety is crucial to helping protect young people and reduce the risk of the sexual exploitation of children.
“I’d urge parents and young people to visit www.knowaboutcse.co.uk to find out more about staying safe online.”
People also can find out more about keeping themselves and their children safe online here
The NSPCC report can be read here
