Many parents want their kids to be safe so they buy modern appliances1. However, they don’t know how dangerous they can be.

WHAT DO STATISTICS SAY? Computers and cell phones are often used to control, harass2, or humiliate3. They also share private pictures. 69% of teens have regular personal communication with strangers and they wouldn’t tell parents about it. About 20% of teens have already met someone they first met on the Internet. 30% of teen girls have had sexual offers in chatroom.

WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?  The fact is that not everybody is friendly. There are people who abuse the information and try to abuse the people, too. We call them online predators. They often post personal information that’s not true. They are often adults who pretend to be younger. This can lead to rape4 and even murder5. The problem is that many teens still can’t see what’s really dangerous. They usually think it’s just fun or trust anybody. When somethink bad happens they don’t tell their parents because they are ashamed6 or afraid that parents will ban7 the Internet.

PARENTS VERSUS TEENS. Of course, parents are worried. They often ban the Internet for some time, delete the Internet profiles, install some net detectors that tell them what the kid is doing on the net. There are some companies that monitor conversations on different websites. If they find anything wrong, they inform the parents. Some websites also started checking the personal information and have stricter rules about the age. The problem is that kids are clever, too :). They often try to outfox8 their parents and simply create a new profile or change passwords. It’s easy because teens often know more about computers than their parents.

TIPS HOW TO USE THE INTERNET SAFELY: Match the texts.

  1. Never give out…………………………………….
  2. If somebody contacts you or acts strangely, ………….
  3. Never give out confidential9 ……………………….

 

a, stop the communication. 

b, personal information. 

c, information or photos.

 

HAVE A DEBATE: You (group 1) have just had a strange chat with a man whom you’ve met on the internet. He wants to see your pictures in the swimming costume. You feel bad about it and speak to your friend (group 2) about it. Your friend thinks you should speak to your parents but you don’t want to.

 

Mgr. Jana Chrtianska

Vocabulary: 1prístroje, zariadenia, 2 obťažovať, 3 ponižovať, 4 znásilnenie, 5 vražda, 6 hanbia sa, 7 zakázať, 8 preľstiť, 9 dôverné

correct answers 1b 2a 3c