By Eleanor Moore and Alan Cleaver

Last updated 11:08, Thursday, 08 May 2008

A SPECIAL investigation by The Whitehaven News has found that children as young as 10 are giving away personal information on the internet.

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Safety on the net: Keep an eye on what your children are viewing

Names, schools, mobile phone numbers and email addresses are being posted onto social networking sites despite warnings by police, parents and teachers.

The discovery comes as police reveal a three-fold increase in arrests of paedophiles by net police.

And it comes as local schools prepare to host a special evening to advise parents about the dangers their children face on the worldwide web.

Our investigation found sensitive personal details about children posted on a number of sites. Armed with this information it would be easy for any sexual predator to target the youngsters.

Even more alarming, many children have posted up provocative pictures of themselves.

On sites such as MySpace, Bebo and Facebook we found children had posted their:

Full name

Age

Home town

School

E-mail addresses.

Anyone can subscribe free of charge to MySpace and similar sites. There are no checks as to the true identity or age of those people registering on the sites.

In just a few minutes, we were able to track down such details of children from Whitehaven, Cleator Moor and Egremont.

Armed with such information, including pictures of the boys and girls, it would be easy for anyone with improper motives to target the pupils.

Some of the pictures show the children revealing large amounts of flesh.

Assisting with the investigation was 15-year-old Eleanor Moore on work experience with The Whitehaven News.

She said: “Even I was surprised at the amount of data I could easily find out about other people and was shocked by some of the explicit pictures posted up by such young children.

“They seem blissfully unaware of the dangers of posting such information onto the web where literally anyone in the world can access it.”

St Begh’s School are so concerned that parents may be blissfully unaware of the danger their children are in they have organised a Safety On The Internet session on Thursday, May 15. Guest speaker will be Jeff Haslam of Cumbria Children’s Services. And their message is clear: The more parents are involved the less opportunity there is for paedophiles.

Elaine Zajac, systems manager of St Begh’s Community Development Centre, said: “All schools have internet safety policies and operate strict filters on internet content.”

But she and head teacher Shirley Shaw realise that once children are at home it’s up to parents to ensure their children are safe. Simple steps such as ensuring the computer is in the lounge rather than the child’s bedroom can minimise risks.

Mrs Zajac said: “We offer classes on the internet that are open to anyone and everyone. We will even tailor such classes to individual needs.”

Mrs Shaw accepts that the internet can be a wonderful source of information and knowledge for children – but there are dangers. She said: “You need to use it with respect. We are just trying to make parents – and grandparents – aware. The internet links them to the whole world, not just the immediate community.”

They point out parents will not need to know huge amounts of technical information but they can quickly learn safety advice and how to watch for danger signs.

If you wish to attend the Safety On The Internet session at St Begh’s School Hall on Thursday, May 15 phone Elaine Zajac on 01946 852667. It runs from 6.30pm to 7.30pm.