SA`s Internet watchdogs, much like their counterparts in the UK, are planning a campaign to educate parents and children about the dangers of paedophiles who lurk in Internet chat rooms.
The growing threat of child abusers who roam cyberspace chat rooms, often posing as children and who then use these forums to arrange physical meetings with their victims, has prompted the government to take action.
The Film and Publications Board (FPB), which falls under the auspices of the deputy minister of Home Affairs, Masiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, polices such issues as child pornography on the Internet and has been tasked by the minister with running the educational campaign.
Brenda Roodt, a sexual-offences prosecutor who has been seconded to the FPB, will head up the operation. She has a reputation as a prosecutor of child abusers, having successfully prosecuted the "Father Christmas paedophile", James McNeil.
Roodt says the campaign is still in the planning phase, but they hope to launch the first stage - a hotline where members of the public can report cases of child pornography - by April.
Following this, the board aims to roll-out its education programme for schools by the middle of this year.
"We are still deciding on exactly what the content should be and we will also be tapping into the systems that are already in place in the UK and New Zealand, to learn what we can from these operations, which have already proven themselves.
"As the government has started the ball rolling with its plan to ensure that all schools have Internet availability, we now need to teach learners and teachers about the dangers of chat rooms in particular."
She says the education programme will focus on both primary and high schools, and will initially be rolled out in those schools that already have the technology to access the Internet.
"The ultimate aim is to have this education programme available to every child in every school throughout the country," she says.
"The campaign will also have a segment that is designed to educate parents, as many children have access to the Internet at home and parents are often unaware of the dangers posed by these chat rooms."
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