Computers & Internet 

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Out of the bedroom, into the kitchen

What do children get up to in their bedrooms? Are they researching homework or gazing at a seedy site? They could be having an online chat with someone pretending to be a child but is actually a paedophile. Most problem cases arise when parents give their children a computer and leave them to get on with it

Be honest. You have no real idea what children do in the privacy of their rooms, and therein lies the problem. Parents need to give children some freedom and sense responsibility. You can't be too protective because that only leads to upset and arguments, but at the same time, bedrooms are no longer a safe sanctuary of innocence. With mobile phones and internet access, children can connect to a dangerous and damaging world.

While you're watching Coronation Street, with a microwave meal on your lap, your teenage daughter, out of the way in her bedroom, might be online in a chat room and unaware that she's conversing with a paedophile. Of course, the likeliest scenario is that she's busy emailing her friends, shopping or downloading music.

Surveys have consistently shown that children use the internet for homework, research, socialising and playing games. News stories about paedophiles stalking chat rooms or children watching porn get a lot of publicity because they're so unusual. The vast majority of internet users access the web for honest and positive reasons.

But there is a risk that children will use technology in harmful ways when they're hidden away from prying family eyes. This problem was highlighted in a news reports about the dangers of 'bedroom internet'. The reports were based on comments from a working group on computer crime at the Association of Chief Police Officers. Detective Chief Superintendent Keith Akerman said: "Computers are nearly always in the wrong place - the child's bedroom."

A sweeping generalisation but there is a point here: children are vulnerable when they surf alone. Ideally, the family computer should be in a place where everyone can share it. A good place would be the dining room or kitchen.

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