A high profile initiative being run at Forfar Academy, led by Mr Bruce Martin, Principal Teacher Pupil Care and Support, aims to raise awareness among parents of the dangers facing their children when they log on.

A recently appointed Ambassador for the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, which is dedicated to eradicating the sexual abuse of children, Mr Martin has been given information of case files and websites which have highlighted the scale of the temptations facing today's youth.

With a backdrop of social networking websites, barriers to accessing children are being eroded and children are finding themselves being targeted and "groomed"by those they think they know.

In an attempt to make parents more aware of what they can do, Mr Martin has organised a parents' evening at Forfar Academy on Wednesday, September 10 at 7.30 p.m.

Invitations were sent out to all parents at the beginning of this week, but the event is open to all those concerned about parental control of the internet.

Whilst he stresses there is a place for proper use of the internet in the home, Mr Martin reveals he has learned so much about the problems lurking beneath the surface through his work with C.E.O.P. - and is determined to filter this knowledge through to staff, pupils and parents.

Ambassador

As a C.E.O.P. Ambassador he can now work on behalf of the centre.

Along with other teachers, he attended an introductory session last December.

He completed the full day ambassador training in Edinburgh in April, along with Vicky Rodger, a staff tutor in I.C.T. and Jennifer Mackay, a child protection training officer for Angus Council.

Along with Vicky and Jennifer he has run training for Angus Council employees, mostly teachers, as well as representatives from Tayside Police and other agencies.

Mr Martin has also carried out in-service training for all staff at Forfar Academy as well as assemblies for the whole school, and has delivered the "Think You Know" materials to pupils in his own PCS group.

He said: "As an S.E. teacher and an I.T. teacher I found I knew so little about the risks going on - and I should.

"And if I didn't know, how can we expect parents who maybe don't know so much about computing to know about the risks.

"This has opened up a complete can of worms for me - I thought I knew about the dangers but I didn't realise just how easy it is for young people to be at risk and what has happened to people in the past.

"The main aim of the parents' evening is to raise awareness of the brilliant aspect of the internet and how fantastic it is, but also show how dangerous it can be and the steps parents can take to safeguard their children and improve their own awareness.

"There are people out there who are grooming children, and they are very, very skilled at it."

Risk to children

With more and more households now owning at least one computer, access to the internet by young children is easier than ever, thus increasing the risk for children.

Not only that, many mobile 'phones also allow immediate internet access, so the risks are not just in the home.

In his presentation for September 10, Mr Martin uses extremely powerful films produced by C.E.O.P.

There are also examples of professional websites aimed at children as young as nine where they enact various scenarios (sometimes taking on a completely new persona called a second life or avatar).

The message certainly hits home as to the dangers and the temptations facing young children as the adults accessing the sites are skilled at grooming young people, using young people's language and codes.

With most secondary pupils now using social networking sites, which are recognised as becoming a breeding ground for paedophile activity, Mr Martin is passionate about doing everything possible to protect children.

Having worked with staff colleagues and addressing pupils via school assemblies and S.E. classes he is now turning his attention to parents.

He continued: "I don't want to frighten parents, I just want to provide information so that parents are more aware of what, potentially, could happen. I also hope to get them more involved in the technology.

"I am passionate about this and want to do what I can for pupils in our area.

"I would urge parents to attend the open evening as they don't know enough about what is going on and what their children are doing on computers."

Parents are asked to reply to the school via the letters distributed this week.

Anyone else interested in attending the informative evening is asked to contact the school direct so numbers can be gauged.

Mr Martin added: "This is an important initiative with secondary pupils at the moment but we hope to liaise with the primary schools with the view to doing another evening for parents of primary school children in the future."

Commenting on the forthcoming event, Mr Melvyn Lynch, Head Teacher at Forfar Academy said: "I am extremely grateful to Mr Martin for the effort he has put in over the past session in raising the awareness of all staff and pupils about safe internet use and the very real dangers facing every young person nowadays.

"The internet is a fabulous development - but such is its power that in the wrong hands it can be a really dangerous weapon.

"We are now very keen to involve parents in helping us keep their children safe.

"As a parent myself I was very disturbed to see just how easy it is for children to put themselves at risk on the internet.

"I would urge every parent to take advantage of the opportunity to come to the event on Wednesday, September 10 which, given the content on this occasion, is aimed at adults only."