3 Where do you draw the line? Online safety 10 tips The internet is fun and handy for chatting, sending messages and making arrangements. But how do you make sure you don’t have a bad experience? Justin, Jill and Lisa talk about making the internet safe. 1 Never make an arrangement with someone you met on the internet on your own. 2 Stop chatting with someone who says or asks strange things. Block that person if necessary. 3 Change the settings on your account to private, so that not everyone can see your information and pictures. 4 Collect evidence if you are being stalked or bullied on the internet. Keep these files. Never let yourself be blackmailed. 5 Don’t feel guilty if something unpleasant happens. If you didn’t encourage that person, then it wasn’t your fault. Don’t walk around feeling guilty, get help. 6 Don’t ask people you don’t know anything personal. 7 Think twice before sending photos of yourself or uploading them for your profile. Don’t make the photos public. 8 Have a think about what you want to show during a video call. People can film you without asking first. 9 Ask someone’s permission before putting their photos on the internet. 10 Trust your intuition. Jill Lisa Justin JILL: ‘You always have to be careful if you arrange to see someone you met on the internet. It’s best to take along a friend or meet in a pub or bar.’ LISA: ‘If a boy suddenly asks something about sex or wants me to put on my webcam, I immediately end the chat. That’s it. I just block him.’ JUSTIN: ‘I only share my profile with my friends’ JILL: ‘You always have to be careful if you arrange to see someone you met on the internet. It’s best to take along a friend or meet in a pub or bar.’ Have you had an unpleasant experience? Do you want to talk about it? Get in touch with the Sense Infoline. Go to www.sense.info. You can call, email or chat. JUSTIN: ‘I don’t ask anything personal until I meet the person or know them better.’ LISA: ‘A boy from my school once sent a nude photo of himself to a girl. The girl then showed the photo to all her friends.’ JUSTIN: ‘I'd never take my clothes off during a video call.’ JILL: ‘A friend of mine took a ridiculous photo of me and put it on her profile. I really wasn’t happy about that.’ LISA: ‘When I was chatting with a boy the other day, I felt a bit uncomfortable. It just didn’t feel right so I ended the chat.’ 20 LONG LIVE LOVE
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