Guards for the cyber playground

Protecting children online is now big business with the Federal Government spending more than $100 million to help families. Lia Timson reports.

Eight-year-old Dilan likes online games but spent the last school holidays banned from the computer because his mum was not comfortable with the shooting games he was playing.

"He got [the website address] off some kid at school," Dilan's mum says. "There's blood splattered all over the wall, they are shooting the President [George Bush]. It's horrible."

Twelve-year-old Sandra had to delete her entire MSN Messenger contact list and start again with only truly trusted friends after engaging online with a man she later learned was 40 years old.

"I gave him my last name and my school," says Sandra, recalling the indiscretion. She was traumatised by the invasion of privacy and the threat such a stranger might pose.

"Now she doesn't spend a lot of time online. She got quite upset," her mum says.

These two instances highlight just some of the risks children expose themselves to in an online world that offers as many dangers as it does advantages.

The internet is full of pitfalls for unsuspecting children. Innocent searches can turn up pornographic websites or online chat with strangers can lead to a request to meet in person. Game portals that appear fun can conceal violent games, and spam emails can bring viruses, sexually explicit photos and identity scams.

The Federal Government is trying to minimise the risks associated with internet surfing and announced last month that it will spend $93 million on providing free content filtering software to families. Another $16 million will be spent on awareness campaigns.

The filters should be available early next year for download from a central website, via internet service providers (ISPs) or delivered on CD-ROM. They block access to known pedophile websites and pages containing explicit material and can be adjusted to limit time spent online or prevent teen chat that divulges personal information such as surnames and phone numbers. Continued...