Days
out
From
the Jorvik Viking Festival to junior karting, Sally Varlow tells you
how to keep the children entertained
The latest addition
to the Museum of British Road Transport in Coventry is the Spirit
of Speed gallery built around two amazing cars, ThrustSSC, first to
break the sound barrier on land in 1997, and Thrust 2, which brought
the world land speed record back to Britain 20 years ago. An audiovisual
show gives the background to each car, then the screen rolls up to
reveal the real thing. But the gallery's highlight is the simulator
where you ride in a reconstruction of ThrustSSC's cockpit, bumping
over the Nevada desert, feeling the jolts as it kicks up to 763 mph.
Allow an hour if you want to linger in ThrustSSC's back-up trailer
for all the design and technical data. And two hours more for the
rest of the museum - Britain's biggest on road transport, with hundreds
of motor vehicles, bicycles and a quarter of a million model vehicles.
Museum of British Road Transport, Cook Street, Coventry (024 7683
2425, www.mbrt.co.uk). Open daily 10am-5pm. Entry free.
Flirting with Feathers is the theme of half-term events at the National
Wetlands Centre Wales, near Llanelli. From next Saturday to February
23 a discovery trail will reveal the mating habits and facts of life
of wildfowl. There is also a print workshop to help you create pictures
inspired by the birds - and Mega Messy Art Sessions where you don't
have to clear up your own mess (presumably inspired by the birds,
too).
National Wetlands Centre Wales, Carmarthenshire (01554 741087, www.wwt.org.uk).
Open daily 9.30am-4.30pm; £5.50 adults, £3.50 for children
four and over ( £3.75 including activities), family ticket £14.50.
The website lists events at all Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust centres,
such as Welney on the Ouse Marshes, where special winter Floodlight
Swan Evenings continue until February 28, at 6.30pm daily except Monday
and Tuesday.
York's annual Jorvik Viking Festival comes up with something fresh
each year. The forthcoming Jolablot (end-of-winter celebration) runs
from next Friday to February 23 and includes a lecture by The Time
Team's Nick Ashton (February 20, £3.50 adult, £2.50, children
and concessions) and a Traditional Viking Family Evening (next Saturday)
with themed food, storytelling and a Norse-ballad singalong ( £8
adult, £6 children/concessions). Old favourites include free
Viking combat training daily in Coppergate Square, the longships river
challenge and (on February 22) a York invasion re-enactment. There's
a guided Viking walk around the city on February 16, 20 and 23 (adults
£3, children/concessions, £2), a torchlight procession
and on February 23 the finale, Death in the Dark (adults £5,
children £3.50).
Festival booking line 01904 543403, www.vikingjorvik.com.
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is running a photographic
Creativity Week, Snap Happy Days, for all ages from next Saturday
to February 23. Various photographic workshops are planned, and works
by participants will be exhibited in the museum. You can drop in for
an hour or stay all day to take pictures using two special photobooths
(with a photobooth artist on hand to help out) or instant Polaroid
snaps (again with a specialist photographer to give advice). Alternatively
you can borrow a 35mm Lomo camera and take it on a tour through the
galleries (museum staff will print the film).
V & A, South Kensington (020 7942 2000, www.vam.ac.uk). Open daily
11am-5pm, last camera loans 4pm (museum hours 10am- 5.45pm). Entry
free, but a deposit such as a credit card or driving licence is required
if borrowing a Lomo camera.
Wild About Bugs days (February 25-27) at Marwell Zoological Park near
Winchester, Hampshire will give the lowdown on spiders, ants, stick
insects, scorpions and all sorts of invertebrates. Throughout each
day (11am-3pm) there's a beetle-drive trail, rock pool exhibit, storytelling
with Madeleine the stick insect, insect face-painting, pond-dipping
- and children can adopt an ant to support the resident leafcutter
colony.
Marwell Zoological Park, near Winchester (01962 777407, www.marwell.org.uk).
Entry £9.50 adults, £7 for three-14 years, including activities.
Zoo open daily, 10am-4pm.
The visitor centre at New Lanark World Heritage Site, on the banks
of the Clyde, has two very different half-term events. Family Science
Circus (next Saturday and Sunday, 12pm-5pm) explores light and sound,
using exhibitions and hands-on displays. Genealogy Day (February 23,
11am-4.30pm) is a chance to get help from local Family History Society
members to trace your ancestors. Whichever you choose, leave time
to explore the rest of the beautifully preserved 18th-century cotton
mill village, and walk up the valley to the cascading Falls of Clyde.
New Lanark World Heritage Site, South Lanarkshire (01555 661345, www.newlanark.org).
Open daily, 11am-5pm. Half-term events cost £1 children, £1.50
adults; but are free with New Lanark Passport costing £4.95
adult, £3.95 children, family tickets from £12.95, which
covers all village attractions, including Robert Owen's house, workers'
cottages, stores, school, and mill exhibitions).
Junior Karting sessions at Castle Combe Motoring Centre near Chippenham
in Wiltshire on February 16 and March 2 (and first and third Sundays
each month) are for 10- to 15-year-olds - with a minimum height of
4ft 8in, so that they can reach the pedals. Training sessions (maximum
30 drivers) last three hours and include briefings, safety drill and
four laps of the 370-yard track. It usually takes four training sessions
before you qualify for an afternoon race session. Wear jeans, trainers
and thick gloves. Helmets, overalls and rainsuits are provided but
your feet get soaked when it's wet, so take spare shoes.
Combe Karting Junior Racing School (01249 783010, www.combe-events.co.uk).
Training begins 9.30; £30 per driver. Pre-booking essential.
The Medieval Gross-Out at Warwick Castle from next Saturday to March
2 promises the smelliest, most sick-making experiences you can imagine.
Four medieval castle inmates will be lifting the lid on the disgusting
details of daily life in the huge castle. In the castle courtyard,
a cook will discuss a medieval menu of foul food, including delicacies
such as sheep's feet, while the saw-happy surgeon explains why maggoty
leeches were man's best friend. To cap it all, the castle toilet cleaner,
known as the "gong farmer", will reveal the hidden dangers
of his profession. Demonstrations take place regularly between 11am
and 4pm.
Warwick Castle (0870 442 2000, www.warwick-castle.co.uk). Open daily
10am-5pm. Entry £12.50 adults, £7.50 children, £34
families.
Dulwich Picture Gallery's exhibition of classic children's illustrations
by Arthur Rackham continues in south London until March 2, with two
half-term talks by present-day illustrators. Quentin Blake reveals
"What an Illustrator Thinks About" (February 26, 5pm, book
in advance), while Jacqueline Rizvi talks and draws in "Lines
and Stories" (February 20, 12.30pm). Rackham's pictures, often
of fairies, goblins and gnarled trees, have a haunting and humorous
quality that appeals to the Harry Potter generation.
Dulwich Picture Gallery, Gallery Road, Dulwich (020 8693 5254, www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk).
Open Tuesday to Friday 10am-5pm, weekends 11am-5pm. Entry £7
adults, children free. Book tickets for Quentin Blake on 020 8299
8709; children £5, adults £10.
Telegraph
Girls
missing means to lose weight
Teenage girls are increasingly
likely to skip meals in a bid to lose weight, a survey has suggested.
The numbers missing out on meals has soared over the past 20
years.
Just over 40% of 14 and 15-year-olds,
and a third of 12 and 13-year-olds miss out breakfast, according
to 2001 data.
The numbers missing meals
have doubled in both groups since 1984.
The number of girls missing
out on lunch has increased nine-fold, from 2 to 18%.
Healthy eating
The research into young people's
eating habits was carried out by the Schools Health Education
Unit, which has interviewed almost 300,000 children since 1983.
The likelihood of skipping
a meal is up and that is far from reassuring
David Regis, Schools Health Education Unit
It asks children about their eating habits on the day they are
surveyed.
It found boys are also missing
meals more regularly.
Increasing numbers of boys
and girls say they want to lose weight.
In 2001, just under two-thirds
of 14 and 15-year-olds said they wanted to shed pounds, up from
half in 1991.
The survey found healthy eating
messages are not getting through to children.
They are increasingly likely
to eat chips, but less likely to eat fresh fruit.
Boys in particular are less
likely to consider their health when choosing what to eat.
Worrying
David Regis, research manager
at the Schools Health Education Unit, said: "The likelihood
of skipping a meal is up and that is far from reassuring.
"Although young people,
especially girls, increasingly want to lose weight we should
be concerned they seem to be doing it by missing out important
meals."
The Schools Health Education
Unit conducted surveys on behalf of local education and health
authorities for its report 'Trends in Young People's Food Choices.'
Dr Wendy Doyle, spokeswoman
for the British Dietetic Association told BBC News Online: "Skipping
meals is about losing weight, but I think it's also related to
social factors.
"Parents are trying to
get children out to school in the mornings.
"There's a time problem
as well as a body image problem."
But she added: "Lots
of different surveys have shown that if you skip breakfast, your
attention span is affected and physical activity levels can suffer
as well."
She said it was particularly
important for young girls to eat breakfast because it was a good
source of the iron and calcium they needed.
BBC News
The
Climbié inquiry
Report
vents fury on supervisors and managers of child protection services
The
report subhead reads: "Victoria's Story". Four years
after her death and more than two since the gruesome details
of her final months were revealed at the Old Bailey, it is a
tale that still makes heartbreaking reading.
Lord Laming, author of the Victoria Climbié inquiry report,
prefaces his findings with two quotes. The first is from a man
whose mother was sometime childminder to Victoria Climbié.
He said: "Victoria had the most beautiful smile that lit
up the room."
The
second, more disturbing, is from Neil Garnham QC, counsel to
the inquiry, who described the conditions in which the small
girl was kept in her final months: "The food would be cold
and would be given to her on a piece of plastic while she was
tied up in the bath. She would eat it like a dog, pushing her
face to the plate. Except, of course that a dog is not usually
tied up in a plastic bag full of its excrement. To say that Kouao
and Manning treated Victoria like a dog would be wholly unfair;
she was treated worse than a dog."
Marie-Therese
Kouao was the woman charged with Victoria's care, Carl Manning
was her lover. On January 12, 2001, they were convicted of her
murder. From Lord Laming's report, it emerges that theirs was
not the only culpability. "The suffering and death of Victoria
was a gross failure of the system and was inexcusable,"
he says. "... I am forced to conclude that the principal
failure to protect her was the result of a widespread historic
malaise ... even towards the end she might have been saved."
Victoria
Climbié came to the UK from the Ivory Coast after her
parents entrusted her to an aunt who promised that she would
provide the child with an education and a new life. Instead,
aged just eight years old, she, as Lord Laming explains, "spent
much of her last days, in the winter of 1999-2000, living and
sleeping in a bath in an unheated bathroom, bound hand and foot
inside a bin bag, lying in her own urine and faeces".
Beginning
his 400-page report, he writes: "At his trial, Manning said
that Kouao would strike Victoria on a daily basis with a shoe,
a coat hanger and a wooden cooking spoon and would strike her
on her toes with a hammer. Victoria's blood was found on Manning's
football boots. Manning admitted that at times he would hit Victoria
with a bicycle chain." After months of evidence to his inquiry,
Lord Laming found that "perhaps the most painful of all
the distressing events of Victoria's short life in this country
is that even towards the end, she might have been saved. In the
last few weeks before she died, a social worker called at her
home several times. She got no reply when she knocked at the
door and assumed that Victoria and Kouao had moved away. It is
possible that at the time, Victoria was in fact lying just a
few yards away, in the prison of the bath, desperately hoping
someone might find her and come to her rescue before her life
ebbed away."
It
is the failure of all the agencies that should have been able
to protect Victoria that has so angered Lord Laming. It is clear
that he believed she was met by incompetence at every turn although
she was never "hidden away". He says: "In the
end she died a slow, lonely death - abandoned, unheard, unnoticed."
Victoria
was known to three housing authorities, four social services
departments, two child protection teams of the Metropolitan police,
and a specialist centre managed by the NSPCC, and she was admitted
to two different hospitals because of suspected deliberate harm.
The
report says: "The dreadful reality was that these services
knew little or nothing more about Victoria at the end of the
process than they did when she was first referred to Ealing social
services by the Homeless Persons Unit in April 1999. The extent
of the failure to protect Victoria was lamentable. Tragically,
it required nothing more than basic good practice being put into
operation. This never happened."
The
former chief inspector of social services directs most of his
criticism not to "the hapless, if sometimes inexperienced,
front-line staff" but reserves his ire for the supervisors,
managers and senior staff in the child protection services. These
are the people he believes should in future be held accountable
for deaths such as Victoria's.
Criticism
Social
services
Four
social service departments come in for criticism. Ealing's assessment
of Victoria's case was "totally inadequate". The report
says: "I strongly believe that Victoria's case could and
should have started in Ealing." Instead, the council closed
her case without anyone ever seeing or speaking to her.
Brent
social services, which received telephone calls of concern about
Victoria's health and welfare, "had the opportunity to help
Victoria on two separate occasions". The handling of her
case was "littered with examples of poor practice and a
consistent failure to do basic things competently".
Haringey
social services, on whom most criticism is directed, clearly
and overwhelmingly failed to safeguard and promote the child's
welfare. The report points out that during the 211 days that
Victoria's case was held by an allocated social worker she was
seen only four times. Never did the conversation extend much
further than "Hello, how are you?".
The
social worker, Lisa Arthurworrey, had many and serious failings,
but she was "badly let down by her managers and the organisation
that employed her". She was overworked and was responsible
for 19 cases instead of the recommended maximum 12.
When
she did visit the child she believed what Kouao told her, but
as Lord Laming points out: "People who abuse their children
are unlikely to inform social workers of the fact".
Ms
Arthurworrey's managers, Carole Baptiste and Angella Mairs, are
severely criticised. The former was an incompetent team manager,
and was an "unsupportive and unfocused supervisor"
who spent supervision sessions talking about feeling oppressed
by a sexist and racist department. Ms Mairs closed Victoria's
case on the same day that the child died and tried to remove
the evidence by tearing pages up of the child's case file.
Enfield
social services is also criticised because it had responsibility
for Victoria for just over 24 hours when she was treated in hospital.
Hospitals
Two
hospitals attended by Victoria - the Central Middlesex Hospital
and the North Middlesex Hospital - were "full of inadequate
and ambiguous recording of information and actions, deferred
actions, assumptions and expectations that things 'would happen'
or be done by 'someone' or others 'at a later stage'."
Police
The
Metropolitan police are also judged as having failed. One officer,
Karen Jones, told the inquiry that she and Ms Arthurworrey decided
not to make a home visit to Victoria because of a fear that they
would catch scabies. The report virtually calls her a liar in
her claims that she received such advice from a hospital casualty
department.
"I
consider it to be more likely that PC Jones decided for herself
that she would not attend the home visit, and that she invented
the story about seeking advice from the casualty department as
a way to avoid criticism."
PC
Jones and a fellow officer, "incompetent though they were"
bore the brunt of criticism, "much of which should rightfully
have been attributed to their line managers".
Audrey
Gillan
Wednesday January 29, 2003
The Guardian
To
access the Guardian's full Laming Report in pdf format, please
click
here
Internet
Paedophile Laws to be unveiled
New
laws in the UK to crackdown on paedophiles who use the internet
to meet children are due to be unveiled.
Adults befriending children with the intention of abusing them
face five years in jail as part of the first radical overhaul
of sex laws for 50 years.
NEW
SEX OFFENCES INCLUDE
Bestiality
Voyeurism
Sexual
interference with human remains
The
new offence of sexual "grooming" of children will allow
police officers to intervene and arrest a suspect before any
sexual activity takes place.
Wednesday's
bill will flesh out details of plans announced last year to shake
up the UK's sexual offences laws. Sex offenders from overseas
will now have to register when they come to the UK .
And
UK sex offenders will have to re-register annually, instead of
every five years, or face five years in jail.
Life
sentence
Home
Secretary David Blunkett has previously said the new offence
of sexual "grooming" would "protect children from
the insidious use of the internet by paedophiles".
The
government this month launched a £1m advertising campaign
to raise awareness of online dangers.
Under
the new laws, anyone found guilty of having sex with a child
aged 12 or under would be charged with rape, with a maximum penalty
of life in prison.
Inducing
a child to take their clothes off will carry a maximum 10-year
sentence if no physical contact was involved, and 14 if there
was.
Rape
convictions
Other
measures included in the bill are expected to be a shake-up of
the laws concerning rape cases.
There
will be a new test of "reasonableness" over the issue
of consent in rape allegations.
This
would mean rape victims would be considered to have been unlikely
to have said yes to sex if they were unconscious or threatened,
for example.
"Date
rape" will not become a separate offence, but using drugs
or other substances to stupefy a victim for an indecent assault
will carry a 10-year sentence.
It
is hoped conviction rates for rape - currently one in 14 - will
improve.
The laws about sex in public are also set for change, with those
covering homosexuals brought in line with those covering heterosexuals.
Outdoor
sexual activity will not be a criminal offence, as long as it
is away from unwilling witnesses.
Failing to comply with that requirement could also carry a five-year
jail term.
Mr
Blunkett sees the new reforms as bringing "archaic, incoherent
and discriminatory" legislation into laws "fit for
the 21st century".
World's
toughest?
There
will be new offences covering bestiality, voyeurism and sexual
interference with human remains.
New
measures against child prostitution are also planned.
Government
officials have argued the measures will help give the UK the
"toughest child protection laws" in the world.
The
Conservatives welcomed the plans when they were outlined in draft
form, but promised scrutiny of the details in the bill.
The
Liberal Democrats see the bill as a chance to change "outdated"
laws.
Human
rights groups Liberty welcomed the proposed changes but is concerned
people could be prosecuted because their thoughts are "second
guessed" under the "grooming" measures.
BBC
News
School
guidance for travellers' children
New guidance to help schools understand the needs of gypsies
and travellers and develop inclusive approaches to their education
was published today.
The
guidance was produced by the Scottish Traveller Education Programme
(STEP) and addresses issues such as how to manage interrupted
learning, difficulties experienced by gypsies and travellers
in accessing education services, and bullying.
At
the Traveller Education Centre, Collin, Dumfries and Galloway,
Education Minister Cathy Jamieson said:
"Every
child in Scotland has the right to a high quality education.
Many Gypsy and Traveller families face barriers when trying to
access education services.
"That
is why we are publishing guidance to help address barriers such
as managing interrupted learning, and the need to look at alternatives
to school education. The guidance also highlights examples of
good practice that we want to see in more areas across the country.
"We
are also working to tackle racism and bullying - an unacceptable
problem in modern Scotland but one that the Gypsy and Traveller
communities face far too often. We recently launched the One
Scotland campaign aimed at tackling racist attitudes in Scotland.
The campaign aims to celebrate the positive aspects of our multi-cultural
society, a diverse culture that includes Gypsies and Travellers.
"Much
still needs to be done, but the guidance launched today is a
step in the right direction. We are building strong links with
Gypsy and Traveller organisations and will continue to work together
with them to further improve access to education services these
communities deserve."
The
Minister will launch the guidance at the Traveller education
Centre, Thistle Grove, Collin, DG1 4JE on Monday 20th January
at 10:00. After officially launching the guidance the Minister
will go across to Collin Primary School for a tour of the school.
An
Advisory Group comprising of representatives from key organisations,
including the Association of Directors of Education, the Association
of Directors of Social Work, the Universities of Edinburgh and
Glasgow, Learning and Teaching Scotland and a number of Headteachers,
supported STEP development.
In
addition STEP has put the guidance out to wide consultation.
Views were sought from a selection of local authorities and schools,
the Council of Scottish Local Authorities, Save the Children,
the Traveller Education Network, the Scottish Gypsy/Traveller
Association, and the education liaison officers of the Showmens
Guild.
Copies
of the guidance are being distributed by LT Scotland to all schools,
local authorities and other interested bodies across Scotland.
They are also available by contacting LT Scotland customer services
on 08700 100 297.
MUMSCOVER
OFFERS FREE INTERNET SAFETY GUIDE TO ALL PARENTS
Coinciding with the Government's announcement of a
campaign to raise awareness of online dangers, a free independent
Internet Safety guide for all the family is now available at
mumscover.com.
MumsCover, the UK's first insurance created just for
Mums, is offering this Guide free in association with Childalert,
an online parenting advice site.
Andy Brown, MumsCover Managing Director, said, "As
a parent, I know how difficult it can be to keep an eye on what
children are up to when they're surfing the net. At MumsCover,
we hope that making this Internet Safety Guide available free
to all parents will at the very least give them some pointers
for ensuring safe and sensible internet use for all the family."
The Guide includes basic safety rules when surfing
the net, suggestions on where to position the computer in the
home and advice on how to raise the subject of Internet safety
with children. There are also two agreements to follow - one
for children, the other for adults - to show that both parties
understand the importance of sensible Internet use.
Free copies of the Internet Safety Guide are available
at www.mumscover.com.
£1million
For Young Offenders
Young offenders across the country are being targeted
with a unique, new
£1.1m website called Rizer (www.rizer.co.uk - under construction),
which
aims to deter them from a life of crime.
The award-winning Galleries of Justice museum
(www.galleriesofjustice.org.uk) is developing the site for launch
in April
2003. Nottingham-based, the Galleries was chosen to deliver the
project
because of its reputation for innovative work with young people
on issues of
crime and social exclusion through its education wing, the National
Centre
for Citizenship and the Law. Although it is a voluntary sector
organisation
the initiative is being entirely funded with money from the government.
Much of the Galleries work is based around the proven
value of early
intervention to divert young people at risk from becoming involved
in crime.
Rizer's primary purpose is to act as a deterrent to a life of
crime and to
explain and provide neutral guidance on the criminal justice
system as it
relates to young people. A combination of text, audio, photos
and video is
being used to communicate with people often suffering from low
literacy
skills.
Aiming to help young people at risk of falling into
crime and the parents
and concerned adults working with them, the site will contain
impartial,
confidential national information on the legal system and the
consequences
of becoming involved in crime. Aside from its deterrent nature
it will also
include a 24-hour helpline and legal advice on issues such as
drugs, theft,
assault and racism as well as links to organisations providing
essential
help and assistance.
The Galleries of Justice has chosen the Citizenship
Foundation
(www.citfou.gov.uk) to provide the content for the site while
new media
specialists Digit (www.digitlondon.com) will supply the branding
and visual
identity. By capitalising on the particular appeal of the web
to young
people Rizer aims to open up a direct and impartial communication
channel.
Heavily biased towards young people in its language and visual
style the
site contains interactive case studies showing the consequences
of becoming
involved in crime.
Work has begun with current and ex-offenders and other
young people in
Nottingham and London to find out the best ways to communicate
with young
people through the web and what visual and language styles they
are most
receptive to. Voluntary, charity and statutory organisations
including
Victim Support, the Police, Youth Justice Board, Magistrates
Court, teachers
and the Commission for Racial Equality are also making a significant
input
into the development of the site and will be closely involved
in its
progress.
"This is a real opportunity to open a new avenue
of communication to young
people at risk of becoming involved in crime," says Peter
Armstrong, CEO at
the Galleries. "We are consulting widely with young people
and adults
working with them to make sure we get the website right and have
already had
positive feedback on the Rizer name and some of the visual work
that is
being done."
Money for the £1.1m initiative is coming from
the government's 'Invest to
Save' and Criminal Justice IT budgets. The first site of its
kind in the
UK, Rizer opens a new communication channel and brings a new
element to the
government's crime reduction strategy. With more than 80% of
those entering
a young offenders institution re-offending within two years the
key to the
project is to deter young people from becoming involved in the
criminal
justice system in the first place and to support those trying
to move away
from a life of crime.
"It's crucially important to catch people at
an early age and move them away
from a life of crime. All the evidence shows that once you have
entered the
criminal justice system then it is very difficult to break out
and that the
most likely time for this to happen is during your teens.
"If Rizer deters just a small percentage of young
people from becoming
involved in crime then the benefits to society will be substantial,"
says
Steve Brookes, Crime Reduction Director at the Government Office
of the East
Midlands (GOEM).
As well as national information the site will contain
local contacts and
links specific to Nottinghamshire, which is acting as the pilot
area for
regional information links and contacts. Analysis of Notts pilot
will
determine the best approach and the additional funds needed to
add local and
regional information from across the country during 2004.
Chatroom
Dangers
A £1m advertising campaign to teach children about the
dangers of internet paedophiles is being launched by the UK government.
The television and radio messages, which are being
broadcast throughout January, aim to make parents and youngsters
aware of how to surf the web safely.
They coincide with a new set of guidelines for internet
service providers who offer chat and instant messaging services.
The government wants to see more measures such as
clearly written and easily accessible warning information and
report buttons.
The aim is to discourage attempts by paedophiles to
'groom' youngsters online, and help children to tell chatroom
providers about inappropriate contact or abusive incidents.
It is claimed that the guidelines, called The Models
of Good Practice and drawn up the government's internet child
protection taskforce, are the first of their kind in the world.
Advertising campaign
An estimated five million youngsters under 16 have
private access to the internet and nearly half of 16-year-olds
use chatrooms, according to research published last year.
The advertising campaign will mark the first time
such advice has featured on television and radio.
Tips for parents
Keep the computer near you
Talk to your child about what they do online
Keep a 'favourites' folder of agreed sites
Ask your ISP about safety features
It follows a successful newspaper campaign a year ago and recent
moves to tighten the laws on "sexual grooming" online.
Online advertising will also run on teen websites
and chat rooms from January to the end of March.
The Home Office hopes the campaign will give parents
the skills and confidence needed to address the issue without
demonising the internet.
Last year's campaign, according to the government,
resulted in an 11% increase in awareness among children to not
give out their personal details online.
Trust abused
Home Office Minister Hilary Benn said: "The internet
has opened up a new world for children which is educational,
informative and, most of all fun.
"But we are aware of the potential for paedophiles
to misuse modern technology to abuse the trust that children
place in them by attempting to 'groom' them through chat rooms.
"We want to encourage parents to help their children
protect themselves so they can surf safely."
Tips for young surfer
Never give address or phone numbers to strangers
Do not meet a stranger alone
Tell your parents if exposed to anything you dislike
Nicholas Lansman, Secretary General of the Internet Services
Providers' Association (ISPA UK) said: "Just like the offline
world, the online world has its hazards.
"ISPA and its members want to make the UK Internet
as safe as possible for younger users."
The guidelines and awareness drive follows recent
proposals outlined in the paper 'Protecting the Public' for a
new offence of sexual grooming.
There could also be a new civil order intended to
protect children from inappropriate sexual behaviour by adults.
BBC 6 January 2003
