The Australian Federal Police (AFP) are marking the beginning of the new school year by launching a seven-day focus on students’ online safety around the nation.
Commander of the AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE), Hilda Sirec said the Centre has partnered with the AFP’s ThinkUKnow Program to release seven days of back-to-school safety tips to help parents and students stay at least a step ahead of online predators.
Commander Sirec said the Back-to-School online safety Program would outline how to stay safe online; how to recognise predatory, sexual and grooming behaviour; and how to report suspicious behaviour and abuse.
“Day one of Back-to-School online safety, the focus is on catfishing, in which predators can create online social media personas of children or celebrities in a bid to make it easier for them to contact children,” CDR Sirec said.
“The predator may invent a new identity or assume the identity of a child who already has a social media presence, using images and details they find online to make it more convincing,” she said.
“Once they have built a rapport with children, online predators can often groom victims and coerce them into providing sexually explicit material.”
CDR Sirec encouraged parents and carers to educate their children about the dangers of sharing personal details and private photos with people online.
“It’s perfectly natural for kids and young teens to wish to interact with people their own age online, but predators prey upon this to gain access to children, and can pose as children themselves,” she said.
“With the start of the school year many students will be connecting with each other on social media for the first time, making it a good time to remind kids to ensure they know who they are adding online and for parents or guardians to talk with their children about safe ways to use their devices,” CDR Sirec said.
