Internet hides grave risks for children: civil society warns

“The Internet hides grave risks for children,” comes the warning non-governmental organizations on the even of the sixth edition of the Internet Safety Day, which annually marked on February 10 in over 50 countries, including Moldova, Info-Prim Neo reports. The Internet Safety Day pursues to promote the safe and responsible usage of the Internet, to raise the awareness about the dangers of unsupervised Internet surfing, about the usage of the new on-line technologies, especially among children and teenagers. According to the association CCF Moldova - Copil, Comunitate, Familie, the Internet safety is an issue tackled more and more frequently by the organizations which protect and promote the children's rights, and also by schools and families since the risks implied by it for children proves to be extremely grave. Recent surveys show that 46 % of children provide data about themselves as photos phone numbers to the people they meet over the Internet, and 71 % of the children receive messages from people they do not know. 19 % of the children have nicknames on the Internet. One in seven American children, aged from 10 to 17, are sexually solicited on-line. From 14% to 25 % of the teenagers have met, face to face, people they first met on-line. Infantile pornography is also a crime against children, which is associated with the Internet usage. The European Parliament urges to curb the sexual exploitation of the children and of infantile pornography and pleads for punishing the sexual luring of children over the Internet and the chats with pedophile content, and for defining sexual crimes as subjects of extra-territorial laws. The members of the European Parliament call the European Union to fund preventing programs from its general budget. The Internet safety issue is a concern of the Network of Moldovan NGOs for Eliminating Child Prostitution and Trafficking, which includes CCF Moldova, Agapis, IRFF-Onlus, La Strada, Adapost si Alinare, Asistenta Sociala Ialoveni, CNPAC and Insula Sperantelor. With a view to fight the on-line crimes, the national network participated in a regional research in Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova concerning the infantile pornography, organized seminars for professionals in protecting children. This year, the network intends to organize new actions and addresses the ones willing to contribute to prevent on-line crimes to inform the children about the risks implied by the Internet and to offer simple, if useful, advice to the minors using the Internet. Thus, the children should not offer personal data about themselves and their parents; they should be cautious with the person they communicate on-line; should not send photos to unknown people, because they cam be used with criminal purposes; should not meet their Internet friends face to face, and if they still want to know such persons they should go meeting them accompanied by their parents or friends. The children should also ignore and not answer uncensored messages or indecent proposals; should inform their teachers, parents, of the Internet caffee administrators, as soon as possible, about suspect and unpleasant messages; should be cautious about the messages they receive over the phone, which can often be false. The minors should not use uncensored words, offend others, introduce themselves as someone else. They have nothing to look for on web sites for adults since they can get computer viruses and are harmful for one's psychic health. The excessive usage of the Internet can also harm one's physical and psychic health. “Don't forget that any information about yourself you disclose over the Internet can be used against you!” is the warning of the children protecting NGOs.