Parents warned they must get savvy about Facebook

Cumbria police have warned parents that they must become as technically savvy as their children if they want to protect them from the online dangers highlighted by the murder of teenager Ashleigh Hall.

The teenager was raped and murdered by Peter Chapman, a convicted double rapist, after he posed as a young man called Peter Cartwright on Facebook and spent time grooming Ashleigh before the pair exchanged mobile phone numbers and agreed to meet.

The horrific case will have caused many parents to reflect on how little they know of their children’s online life and how ill-equiped they might be to offer sensible advice about using social networking sites such as Facebook.

Detective Constable Steve Fawcett, who helps co-ordinate Cumbria Police’s fight against online crime, said: “I would suggest parents go on to Facebook themselves and get familiar with the jargon and all the ways that people communicate on it, such as chat, messaging, etc.

“Once they have got that understanding they can have a discussion with their children and reach some kind of agreement without getting bamboozled.”

Worried parents might be tempted to spy on their teenagers online habits by reading emails, for example, but DC Fawcett says that’s a strategy that might backfire.

He said: “I have teenage children myself and the approach I have tried to take is to try the road of trust and mutual respect and education about some common sense rules.

“You can get software quite easily that will monitor websites and web useage, but if your children find out they might see it as a serious breach of trust.”

In recent weeks Webwatch has highlighted how girls as young as nine had been set up with Facebook accounts by their parents despite the site’s age limit of 13.

DC Fawcett described such this trend as “alarming”, adding that younger children were much more likely to be at risk online.

If a parent is concerned that their child is being contacted by a stranger online, DC Fawcett urged them to use the help section within Facebook to report their concerns.

“If you’re not happy about messages that suggest meeting up or giving mobile numbers then you can report this, but the first thing to do is to do a screensave so you can save the evidence in another file,” he said.

Facebook also has settings which allow you to block certain people from sending messages.

You can get more information from the help section which you can access via the link at the bottom of every Facebook page.

Or go to www.getsafeonline.org where you will find lots of advice and a test to help you find out how safe you are online