Cartoon Helps The Young Surf Safely
By Christopher Nickson
May 09, 2008
A new animated series to help five-to-seven year-olds to be safe online is launched in Britain as figures reveal that half a million kids that age are unsupervised online.
It might seem hard to believe, but around half a million kids in the UK aged between five and seven are allowed to surf the Net without supervision. That figure has been revealed by government regulator Ofcom as a new series of cartoons intended to help protect them online has been issued by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection center (CEOP).
The five-episode animated series, Hector’s World, is part of the Think U Know campaign, and features Hector the dolphin and friends in the “internet ocean” and offers guidance to the young to help them stay safe online, as well as warning about what not to do.
Helen Penn, CEOP’s head of education, told the BBC:
"We don't want to frighten children but we do want them to be aware of the dangers, so we're using a cartoon character to get the message across. Time and time again we come across situations where children have given out all sorts of personal information on the internet without understanding the potential risks. They think only their friends will read it, without realising anyone can see it."