“Of the 99% of children who have access to the internet, 31% of 12-15 year olds don’t use their privacy settings on their profiles.”
Ofcom Media Literacy Audit, 2009

Safety on the internet is a complex issue, and it may seem like quite a daunting thing to talk about with children and young people involved in your organisation’s activities. However, through your work, you can take on an important role in directing children and young people to sources of advice and information about staying safe on the internet

The internet, mobile phones, social networking and other interactive services often provide safety and privacy tools, which usually require the user to enable them. User may also have the ability for users to report concerns and acess to safety advice including videos and links to online safety charities.    

Following the establishment of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety the Government launched the cleverclickclicksafe campaign in February 2010.



Resources and online safety advice for children, parents and professionals is also available from online safety charities including:

Childnet
An international organisation working to make the internet a safer place for children.

Beatbullying
An organisation which works with UK children and young people affected by bullying, both online and offline.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre ( CEOP ) 
A UK law enforcement agency dedicated to tackling sexual exploitation of children also provides education and awareness resources aimed at children and young people on the Thinkuknow website.  

“Only 50% of children encountering harmful or inappropriate content say they did something about it.”
DCFS Staying Safe Survey, 2009

"One in three 11-18 year olds in the UK have been the victim of a cyberbullying, with teenage girls up to four times more likely to be victims than boys."
Beatbullying, 2009