21 September 2006

A new government-backed programme has been launched, in a bid to keep children safe when using the Internet.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) yesterday launched the first nationwide education programme for youngsters.

Named ThinkuKnow, the campaign is designed to encourage more careful consideration from children about Internet chatrooms.

A spokesman for the CEOP highlighted the positive impacts that the Internet can have on youngsters' lives.

"The web is a great place to have fun and meet new people and millions of children across the UK are online every day chatting, social networking and playing interactive games."

A number of workshops and talks will be held across the UK, with schools in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland taking part.

Police, social services and child protection experts will coordinate the events, also aiming to highlight the first online facility for children to report abuse, which was created recently.

Jim Gamble, chief executive of the CEOP centre, recently explained the new service: "Behind the report abuse button will sit police and intelligence officers who have been specially trained to tackle child sex abuse."

© Adfero Ltd

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