What is Chatroulette, and why should you care?

A new website called 'Chatroulette' is fast becoming popular amongst teenagers and young adults.

The site is based on a simple concept, and the name is a big clue.

It works literally like roulette.  The user connects their webcam, logs on, starts a "game" and is instantly connected to another person.  The site displays the image from their webcam, the image from your own webcam, and a "chat" room on the right-hand side.  The person you are connected to could be anybody, of any age or any sex, from anywhere in the world.  

New law targets suicide websites

At least 39 people in Britain have committed suicide after receiving advice from websites or individuals on the internet, yet nobody has ever been prosecuted for encouraging them.

Man jailed for grooming girl, 12, online

A 37-year-old man has been jailed for two years for grooming a 12-year-old girl online.

Timothy Fullard used the alias 'Dom' to contact the girl at her home using an (unnamed) internet messaging system, and later by text message.  Prosecutors described the conversation between the girl and Fullard as 'particularly intimate'.

A Mother Warns: "Be aware of the online dangers that children face."

The mother of a young girl abused by a teacher over MSN Messenger warned parents:

"Be aware of the online dangers that children face." 

The stark warning came as Ian Goy, of Thornton Clevelys, Lancashire, was jailed for 26 weeks for 'inciting an under-age girl to engage in sexual activitity, whilst in a position of trust'.  Goy had denied the charge but was found guilty by a jury in less than 3 hours.

Social networking ‘campaigns’ – a force for good or evil?

The Lighter Side

Most UK readers will be aware of the runaway success of a Facebook campaign to deprive Joe McElderry, this year’s winner of TV talent contest The X Factor, of their seemingly-compulsory Christmas Number 1.  For the last five years the winner of the X Factor has been guaranteed the top position in the chart at Christmastime. 

The Facebook campaign encourages people to buy the 1992 protest song ‘Killing In The Name’ by Rage Against The Machine instead of Joe’s single as a form of protest against the glossy, slick talent show and it’s musical output.  Donations, and profits from the sale of Rage Against The Machine’s single, are being donated to charities.

As of the Midweek chart, Rage Against The Machine are leading McElderry by several hundred thousand sales, and the campaign seems to be a runaway success.

This is just one example of the ‘people power’ of social networking sites, where a spontaneous movement can turn into an organised campaign in hours, and give a voice to thousands of people.

The ‘Rage Against The Machine’ Facebook campaign is clearly relatively light-hearted, but ‘people power’ on social network sites can have a much darker side…

The internet at home... a few facts and figures

Today we thought we'd present to you some facts and figures, which we've collected from various sources on the internet, which demonstrate the way in which children and young people use the internet and the way in which parents deal with their children's internet use. 

We don't seek to be "scaremongers". 

Here, we present the facts, so that you can make up your own mind...