Thank you for sending us your views on Panorama: One Click from Danger.
A selection of your comments have been published below.
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Congratulations Panorama on an insightful and thought provoking programme on the dangers of instant messaging. As a parent of a child who has encountered hideous problems due to internet messaging, I felt I had to correct the comment made by the gentlemen from the police force who deals specifically with paedophiles. He stated that he has two teenage daughters and although they are allowed on Myspace type forums, his daughters would have to be prepared for him ask them to describe, at a seconds' notice, the person they are talking to. I say to this man - PLEASE open your eyes!!!! Your daughters will probably make the descriptions up! The only way to stop this is to remove these forums totally away from our children. My computer is completely password protected and my daughter can only use it to do her schoolwork when I log in for her and stand over her!!! As a child who tried to commit suicide due to her experiences, it's the very least I can do to help her! Please don't take the advice of Mr Policeman - he should know better - I only hope he doesn't experience what we have - I don't want him to find out the hard way!
Mrs Kelly, Solihull, UK
How unbelievably biased. This programme had an extremely stereotyped-based view of teenagers. Honestly, only about 1% of the population are stupid enough to meet up with complete strangers from the internet. I have met up with people from the net FREQUENTLY. But is this after speaking to them for less than a day? Heck, no. Before I first met people from the internet, I'd been chatting to them regularly for two years. By that time, all those people had been verified to be who they said they were by being 'friend of a friend' or by talking on webcam, Skype and the phone.
The fact remains that the only people scared of the internet are the people who don't use it. So please, next time make a programme which isn't ridiculously stereotyped and designed to be scaremongering. Make a programme that actually TELLS THE TRUTH.
James Beagon, Marple Bridge, England
I was appalled by the manner with which this program presented the internet, as if any child who starts up there computer will instantly be set upon by 'internet predators'.
I am now 18 and have used the internet for work and socialising throughout the whole of my teens and have not once been approached by anyone sordid using it.
I feel your impersonator did not act anything like a teenage child and I feel you grossly misrepresented the 'dangers' of the internet by those actions.
The internet is simply another world. If you act stupidly in the real world, go to areas which are known for trouble of course you will be harassed.
Stevie Finegan, London
I believe that most children are not naive enough to post personal information on internet sites. For a teenager, parental intrusion is one of the most annoying things that can happen.
Tom, UK
I am the Parental Involvement Worker at Queensbury Secondary School. The programme was fantastic! It has prompted me to set up a parents evening at school to highlight the dangers in our childrens' 'cyber world' and help parents bring the 'don't talk to strangers' strategy into the 21st century.
Amanda Leggett, Bradford, West Yorkshire
Thanks a lot after my parents MADE me watch one click from danger theyve made me delete my bebo account >:(
Becci, burton
I am angered at your programme's portrayal of young people. I am 15, and have the common sense to not give out personal details. I have a facebook profile, set so I choose who may view my profile. I am a member of an internet forum, on which the people I talk to I have met in person already.
Your programme portrayed us as naïve. Most of us do know how to look after ourselves on the internet, and cases of the contrary are isolated.
This programme was a disgraceful attempt to mislead miseducated parents.
James, Manchester
Last night I watched Panorama One Click from Danger with my computer addicted 12 year old son. Whilst I was already aware of many of the issues raised it was important for him to be aware of why we want to know who he's in contact with during online games. The scariest part was the use of computers and web cams in bedrooms. Your advice was very clear -DONT. Today after school I watched a new CBBC series with my 8 year old daughter called "The Revenge Files of Alistair Fury" A Primary school aged child who runs an on line club using his bedroom computer and web cam to contact friends and others including planning to meet up. Come on BBC surely this is mixed messages!!!
Diane Hutchinson, East Yorkshire
Excellent programme! I have grandchildren who surf the net and worry constantly about who they are contacting. May I suggest a copy of this programme be distributed to all schools - it is essential for children be made aware of the dangers. They are not - they think its all innocent fun and it doesn't occur to them that people would lie about their age.
Valerie King, East Grinstead, West Sussex
I'm rather surpised about all the comments I've read. It has made me realise parents nowadays are even dafter than I thought they were. Was everything mentioned about myspace/messaging etc actually new to them? Have they never even bothered to find out what their childeren are upto on the internet? The fact that this program is necessary to make them aware of the dangers of the internet frustrates me. So what if all this computer stuff seems difficult, anything which concerns your kid's safety is worth looking into.
Jane , England, Manchester
This is the first time I have ever been moved enough to actually write to a program regarding its content. I want to thankyou for the excellant One Click From Danger screened last night. I have 5 young children, ranging in age from 8 to 17. With the exception of my youngest, each child is an avid Bebo participant, and I asked them to sit and watch your program with me. Over the last couple of years I have tried to get through to them the dangers of such sites, with very little success. Your program made them actually sit and discuss issues with me that previously they had not wanted to. My 11 year old was visibly shocked, and as soon as the program ended removed her surname, school, msn details from the site. She hadnt thought up until now of the dangers such information could bring, and im ashamed to say that neither did i. My son is 13, and told me last night that he had added people to his page whom he did not know, simply to 'make up his friends numbers'. After watching !
your program he realised that they could be anyone, a 50 year old man, not necessarily a 12 year old boy as stated. He too removed them, and has said that he would only add people he had actually met in future.
So, thankyou. If nothing else, then you have helped raise the awareness of the dangers of these sites to my children, and to me. The computer is now in my kitchen, a family friendly room, and I shall be monitoring their sites regularly.
Thankyou
Mrs Caroline Byrd
caroline byrd, ashford, kent
I watched this on the iPlayer, having been linked to it through one of my forums. As a 16-year-old girl with a large friendbase online, I was shocked at the amount of sensationalism in this program. I've met thirty or forty friends in real life (irl), and despite my heavy amount of online socialising - I have accounts on about five forums which I use regularly, and I have pages on most major social networking sites, in conjunction with using lots of Instant Messaging software - and not once have I had an encounter like that endured by the fictional character 'Jane' in your program. Even previous schoolmates with profile pictures which could be described as soft pornography didn't ever really encounter suspect contacts.
I've been going to meet-ups every couple of weeks for 15 months now, and at the first one I attended everyone was either in large groups or had a parent with them. For example, six 15-year-old boys, 4 friends aged between 14 and 18, and a group of 7 kids between 13 and 17 from Manchester who were escorted by a parent. I took my mother with me; I wouldn't dream of meeting someone irl without a trusted adult with me. My online friends are now some of my closest friends, and they got me through three years of severe bullying at a previous school.
Apologies for the incredibly long comment, but this is a topic I feel strongly about, and I was almost outraged at the sheer exaggeration involved in this program.
Amy, 16, London, UK
Re: One Click from Danger. For a very topical and important subject, I was disappointed with last night's Panorama. I think the relatively sensationalist approach to editing and presentation diluted the very important key points the programme was trying to highlight. Less time should have been spent on the lurid and explicit accounts and more on the best ways to combat the problem, both in terms of technology and the challenges in parent-child communication on the issue. That said, I think it is excellent that the BBC are allowing programmes like Panorama to highlight these sort of issues at peak or close to peak audience times.
Mark, London
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!
I sat and watched this programme with my 2 girls aged 12 & 13, both of whom said to me afterwards, thank you for caring about us and now we understand why we can't have our computers in our rooms and why we have to write all our passwords down for you!! I almost burst into tears with relief as I have had many a long discussion on how I wasn't doing it because I didn't trust them, I was doing it for their safety!
This was a very well presented and I hope that there are many more parents feeling like I am today.....one step closer to protecting our children and one step closer to our children understanding why, with just enough information that doesn't completely scare them off the internet but enough for them to realise that the internet can be a fun useful tool, if used in the correct way!
So once again I say, THANK YOU and WELL DONE!!
Jo Parker, Ramsgate Kent
i think you have over exaggerated this topic! i believe this is only helping Britain wrapping their kids up in bubble wrap! i think more precautions should be made - yes - such as educating kids about such dangers etc however also i think people including the members of such sites should take some responsibility! at the end of the day it is up to them if the accept the friendship links - they do not have too and also they should be more sensible with what they say! to be honest its just simple common sense when using these sites! these sites have helped me and others stay in contact with distant friends and strengthened by friendships!! i think a programme should be made concentrating on the positive of these sites. watching your programme always makes me depressed because it leaves thinking that the world is a terrible and scaring place!
Sarah, Crawley
Thank you so much. We watched the programme as a family (including our daughters aged 13 and 11),and later my husband and I decided to check through every msn chat log. Neither daughter has a computer in their bedrooms, but we realise now that we have been far too lax in checking messages. We were horrified to find that our youngest daughter had indeed blithely given out personal information to the same unknown 'person' on four occasions, although she had eventually blocked 'her', much to our relief. There was nothing obviously sexual in the conversations - at least to an 11-year-old - but we had a strong sense that the questions and comments did not quite ring true - our daughter was pressed to submit details of age, school, physical appearance etc, and accept the person as her 'friend' - which she did initially. Suffice to say that we have strong suspicions that the person could well be a paedophile. MSN will be very closely monitored from now on. Watching the reconstruction
and listening to the programme was very disturbing; to find out so soon after that our own daughter had possibly been preyed upon was a huge wake up call. I think it is likely that parents around the country did exactly the same as us last night, and that the BBC have been flooded with comments similar to this.
Linda, Newport South Wales
Not a bad effort at letting parents know what their children might be up to online. Just drop all the fear mongering tabloid language and you might actually be on the way to finding out what life is really like on the internet.
Incidentally, have you ever thought about what children talk about to each other in chat rooms? Now that might make people sit up and take notice.
Cheers!
Dave
Dave, Reading
The work that is being undertaken by the police to eradicate this disease is sadly undermined by the lack of punishment. There is only one punishment" castration" but not in our nanny state.
mark, Worcestershire
Shouldn't the law be changed to make it a criminal offence for an adult to impersonate a child? I think the public interest, in this narrow case, outweighs accepting, as a basic civil liberty, that people may create any online persona that they wish.
Chris Hall, Guildford
I watched your show for the first time and it actually helped me to open my eyes. I didn't know so many people would be like that. i'm so surprised.
Lewis McCagh, Carnoustie, Scotland
I am 11, because of your programme i have changed my privacy settings on my social networking account. i have also deleted other accounts. thank you for the programme. I cannot wait for next weeks programme.
Theodore price, london
We were appalled at how common it seems to be for paedophiles to use these sites to "meet" young and impressionable girls. What we would like to know is what is being done to police these sites and what steps parents can take to prevent their daughters becoming victims of these predatory men? Like Pandora's box the internet has been let loose on the world and it can be used for a great deal of good but somehow it has to be stopped as a medium for evil.
Mr and Mrs A wild, Berkshire - uk
I found this programme to be excellent and very informative and there should be more of this on television. People need to be told what to watch out for and how to prevent situations of this nature taking hold of vulnerable children. Thank you Deborah mother of a five year old child.
Deborah Roberts, Merseyside u.k
I've been trying to leave MySpace for just over a month now (as a graduate thinking about companies doing a search on me, not as a child worried about predators) but nothing seems to be happening in regards to getting my account removed. i think this is a serious issue, not for me in particular but as a parent wanting their kids off these sites.
Kris Athi, Nottingham, UK
More scaremongering nonsense aimed at middle aged clueless reckless liberal parents. Don't the researchers at Panorama realise that the overwhelming majority of sex crimes against under aged children are by people the child already knows and trusts to some capacity. i.e. their relatives and NOT virtual internet paedophiles.
Panorama gave a statistic 11% of under 16's have met someone from the internet, that's a minority. 89% will not meet someone. Why make a big fuss over a minority? And if you then asked how many of those 11% were then raped, you'll probably find it is 0% to 0.1%. You are just scaremongering. It is really middle aged parents who know nothing about online social networking that always make a fuss about net predators. If you ask teens, do they have problem with it? The answer is No. Panorama interviewed James who was aged 16 in the programme, he said he wasn't bothered by it, its normal behaviour for the internet, besides majority of teens know who to trust and don't trust, they are not completely stupid or innocent, they are very streetwise and clued up.
Paulo Maldini , Glasgow, Uk
I have just watched your program on online safety for children (although it seemed to focus on teens), and was horrified by the biased front presented by the show.
I am sixteen years old, and have been using the internet responsibly since I was twelve. I have made many close friends online, and met some of them in person - none of them were paedophiles, a fact I checked beforehand by chatting on webcam and speaking on the phone. I also met them in a group, in case my other checks were somehow inadequate.
I would like to have a forum in which to voice this disappointment, but none of the online articles related to the program have sections in which to leave comments. Your misrepresentation infuriates me - I have always defended the BBC as a responsible and dependable news source, but in one program you have completely changed my views.
It is hysteria like this which causes parents to prevent intelligent, (and often lonely) young people meeting up with other like-minded individuals.
Alexa, England
I was interested in this program because despite it being aimed at parents, I am a 16 year old girl who is most likely to be on the receiving end of this virtual world. I, like all my friends, have profiles on Facebook and MySpace, and I also have msn messenger. I have also been contacted by a number of people who I don't know and who would like to 'add me as a friend'. However I have never put myself in any sort of dangerous situation because unlike many it would appear, I do not accept these friend requests - and I ignore the 'poking' - which means that no conversation between me and a stranger can occur. I can't understand why anyone would agree to talk to someone if they had never met/even heard of them - even if they claim to be a similar age. These sites are fun but you have to be careful. There are lots of security settings which parents could go through with their children which decipher which contacts can see what information. Only let your closest friends see your mobile number and email address - just take sensible precautions and everything will be fine.
Charlotte, London
Thanks for such an excellent programme. Compulsory viewing for anyone whose children have access to a computer. It should be law that all computers are sold with an in built video of this advice and the link to CEOP. I thought I was fairly computer savvy but, as illustrated by the programme, I am clearly not doing enough to protect my children.
SB, London
fantastic thanks for a great programme, it proves to our kids that we are not the only paranoid parents around when it comes to blocking them from using certain websites
Dr R Koefman, Berkshire
I want to commend you on this programme, it was a long awaited eye opener for our society! I've been working in Child Protection for many years and feel its time we address the current dangers facing our children and young people on this level which you have done. Thank you for this!
H.C van Rooyen, Surrey
Hi Think this show is really good because it opens the youths eyes into the danger you can have while you are online.
Ish, England
Hi, this was a very interesting and shocking story, I'm 56 and a grandfather to an 8 year old and am very concerned that measures should be put in place to protect children.
I was wondering if it would be possible to a panic button on the web page that kids could click when they are contacted and before they get pulled into the situations you described. The button could set up an internet traffic recorder that automatically sends the conversation and the IP addresses to an agency that deals with this.
Best regards, keep up your sterling productions they are always worth watching.
Bob Smith, Gorebridge, Midlothian
i use MySpace and Facebook.
on Facebook if you are not the persons friend then you cant view the profile.
on MySpace you can set your profile so it cannot be viewed by anyone other than your friends.
a simple solution is to not add people that you don't know
Vicky Evans, Hull
I'm sat here with my 3 children watching "one click from danger," after just watching another programme on the same thing, and i strongly feel education of our children is the way to go ! However when predators are caught then my god, surely much harsher sentences are needed? I mean come on 2 and 3 years for totally wrecking a child for life !!!! Half of which is only ever served ?? And we need more online investigating company's to head up and these people they are truly evil people that need to be show this will not be taken lightly !!!
Karen Soutter , Reading
Thanks for a very helpful programme. I work in a secondary school and the use of sites such as Bebo is almost universal for teenagers. Even with firewalls and security features on school networks, pupils are always one step ahead, using "proxy" websites to bypass the security that is there for their own safety. One effective method I used with our pupils was, at an assembly, informing them that I had browsed through many of their profiles and was able to gather information on where they (and their little brothers and sisters) lived, looked at their photographs and could work out where they went at the weekend. The pupils' faces visibly dropped, realising that it is not just their friends who can gain access. Having said that, the terminology used by some young people on their profiles must be a clear signal to predators. I have seen the comment "soon to be the legal 16" on many profiles. When questioned, young people do seem to think that this is just a figure of speech, but one can clearly see how a predator might interpret this as an "advert". My gut feeling is that education is the answer - the temptation to rely on shock tactics (such as banning internet access) in areas like this is huge, but rarely works in the long term. I advised our young people that when they use these sites, their profiles should not be visible to anyone they haven't invited, know and have met.
Philip Graham, Glasgow, Scotland
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