Do U Care? Webwise Rules

Websites are great fun and an excellent place to learn but it is important to BE SAFE when you are surfing the web. When you log on to the net you are entering a big world of users, most of the people in the web world are genuine people, but there are some who abuse the net and need to be avoided.

Chat rooms and message boards are good to use but they need to be used properly and safely. Because there are no chat rooms in the Do U Care area of the site you should never need to communicate one to one with anybody, however if you follow the webwise rules below, they will help you to surf in a safe environment.

Do not:

· Go alone to meet people you chat to over the internet. If you decide to meet people we strongly recommend that you only do this if your parent(s) or carer(s) go with you, make sure that you meet in a public place.

· Tell anyone you speak to on the internet your real name, what your home address is, your telephone number (including your mobile), your school’s name.

· Send anyone any pictures of yourself.

· Send any other personal details such as bank details or credit card numbers, especially if they aren’t yours!

· Give away too much information about yourself – it’s easy to give away far more than you mean to when messaging or emailing! Make sure no one reading what you say will know it’s you.

Do:

· Use a nickname rather than your real name.

· Keep all your personal details to yourself, this includes passwords and usernames.

· Ask your parents or carers first if you are allowed to use a certain site.

· Be careful when using message boards. We do try to make sure that only people who should be using it do so, but there is currently no way of telling if somebody is who the really say they are.

· We don’t have chat rooms, but if you think that somebody is chatting in a room and they shouldn’t be, leave the room!!! Tell a parent or carer and get them to contact the website creators.

· Be yourself and don’t pretend to be somebody else.

· Keep nasty, rude, aggressive or suggestive messages or comments to yourself, tell a parent or carer and get them to notify the website creators. We will delete these sorts of remarks from our message board and ban anyone who makes them.

Keeping safe on the net is important for you and for us, it enables you to enjoy the facilities and allows us to provide the facilities you want.

Henry, Hilary and Harriet say,

"Thank you for listening!"