Screen shock- Phoebe and Jack use one of the school’s iPads. 66397

By Mara Pattison-Sowden
PARENTS were left shocked and white faced when they discovered it could take just two minutes for a child predator to befriend their children online.
They also discovered it would take seven minutes to find any child in Australia that didn’t use privacy settings on their social networking sites.
The Yarra Junction Primary School parents were even more surprised when they discovered almost 60 per cent of grade five and six students had their own computer in their bedroom.
The majority of grade five and six students (aged around nine to 12) have a Facebook profile despite the site requiring a minimum age of 13.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority ran an Internet Safety Awareness presentation at the school on Wednesday 15 June with sessions for students, teachers and parents.
Cybersafety trainer Greg Gebhart told parents despite their shock they should not cut off their children’s access to technology.
Rather, he said, young people should be empowered with an understanding of the risks with social networking and how to prevent them.
Mr Gebhart told parents to question why a 10-year-old would have 200 friends on social networking sites such as Facebook.
“They’re got to have strangers on that site and there’s a good chance there are online scammers or sexual predators on that list,” he said.
“Sit down with your child and get them to list each person and where they met them.
“If they can’t answer those questions, those people shouldn’t be on that list.”
He said children should be taught to use privacy settings and how to report abuse in the sites they use.
Find out more about smart cyber protection at www.cybersmart.gov.au.