Orana Mid-Western Police District Youth Liaison Officer, Senior Constable Melanie Maher said "parents need to be aware of predators" online.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
According to Acting eSafety Commissioner, Maria Vassiliadis, any online platform which features social networking and interaction- especially those popular with young people- can potentially be misused for sinister purposes, such as cyberbullying or predatory grooming.
Ms Vassiliadis, said with children across NSW currently on school holidays and potentially spending more time online, parents need to be extra vigilant about online safety.
"While today's tweens and teens are 'digital natives', often they are yet to develop the maturity, reasoning and resilience to deal with serious negative online experiences such as unwanted contact from strangers or cyberbullying," Ms Vassiliadis said.
READ MORE: Regional Big W stores safe...for now
"Our research shows that issues such as accessing inappropriate content, unwanted contact from strangers and cyberbullying are the top concerns of Australian parents when it comes to the online safety of their children."
Constable Maher said the biggest concern facing parents in the NSW Central West are predators posing as young people and obtaining inappropriate images or location information of their victims.
"Supervised internet access is imperative at all times," Constable Maher said.
"In the first instance, parents must take all reasonable steps to shut down the online conversation, discuss this process with the child along with the associated dangers, report any illegal content exchange to police, and advise the Office of eSafety Commission of any concerning activity.
"It is vital to remember that platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram require the profile holder to be aged 13 years and above.
"Orana Mid-Western Police District School Liaison Police, and Youth Liaison Officers, present targeted cyber safety presentations within the district to educate children, parents and teachers of safe internet use."
The Federal Police have a website dedicated to cyber safety "ThinkUKnow" https://www.thinkuknow.org.au/. Further information is available at https://www.esafety.gov.au/.
According to the eSafety commissioner Parents can give their kids the following guidance:
- Set your accounts to private
- Delete unknown contacts and requests or messages from strangers
- Report and block any unwanted or negative contact