For many, the internet is part of their everyday activity. When we use things regularly, we can take it for granted and drop our guard. However, staying safe on the internet is relatively simple as long as you stick to a few ‘SMART' rules:

Safe - Keep safe by being careful not to give out personal information - such as your name, email, phone number, home address, or school name - to people who you don't trust online...

Meeting - Meeting someone you have only been in touch with online can be dangerous. Only do so with your parents' or carers' permission and even then only when they can be present...

Accepting - Accepting emails, IM messages, or opening files, pictures or texts from people you don't know or trust can lead to problems - they may contain viruses or nasty messages!...

Reliable - Someone online may be lying about who they are, and information you find on the internet may not be reliable..

Tell - Tell your parent, carer or a trusted adult if someone or something makes you feel uncomfortable or worried. You can report online abuse to the police at: www.thinkuknow.co.uk

These SMART Rules are taken from www.kidsmart.org.uk

It's well worth spending a little time browsing their website and looking at the issues surrounding the Internet. How about showing your parents or carers around the website so that they know that you know how to stay safe online?

Facebook

Facebook and the CEOP Centre have joined forces to make young people safer online by launching the new ‘ClickCEOP’ application. Through this partnership all young users of Facebook – and their parents – are invited to add the new ClickCEOP ‘app’ to their profile. Through this app, they will be able to access advice, help and support from the CEOP Centre. By adding and using the app young people will be able to report instances of suspected grooming or inappropriate sexual behaviour directly from their profile to specially trained investigators.

Once added to their profiles, young users will receive regular messages from CEOP and its partner organisations who operate ‘behind the button’ to make children safer. CEOP’s new Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ClickCEOP) will also contain polls, news alerts and status updates. The page will look at topics that teenagers care about, such as celebrities, music and exams and will link these subjects to questions about online safety.

Users can either add or bookmark the ‘app’ so it appears on their profile, as not only a constant source of help and reassurance for them but also as a strong visual signal to their friends, family and others that they are in control online.