Nearly half of children in northern Europe who use Internet chat rooms have been approached by people wanting to meet them and 14 per cent have actually met someone, an EU survey has indicated.
The news that EU ministers, meeting in Co Louth yesterday, have committed €50 million to make the Internet safer for children has been welcomed by Ms Audrey Conlon, spokeswoman for the Internet Advisory Board.
The potential for harm on the Internet is great, according to Ms Conlon, and although she has no knowledge of children meeting online acquaintances in Ireland, she said it is "undoubtedly happening and is an extremely dangerous thing".
The four-year programme, announced yesterday, aims to increase the use of filtering technology and public hotlines to combat illegal Internet content.
The Minister for Communications, Mr Dermot Ahern, hosting a EU conference on broadband, said that while Internet technology was bringing huge benefits to the public and businesses, it was up to legislators to protect the vulnerable from its dangers.
The survey by EU Safety, Awareness, Facts and Tools, a cross-European project to promote the safe use of the Internet, found 46 percent of children in northern Europe who chat on the Internet say someone has asked to meet them and that 14 per cent had actually done so.
A Eurobarometer survey published in March has found half of parents in Europe do not think their children would know what to do if a situation on the Internet made them uncomfortable.
"The first thing we always say to children is never under any circumstances meet, in real life, someone who you have met online," Ms Conlon said.
She said parents should monitor their children's use of the Internet in exactly the same way they would their viewing of television or videos. "There is absolutely no substitute for a good, old-fashioned vigilant parent in the background," she added.
A lot of effort and resources have gone into ameliorating the worst effects of the Internet in this country, Ms Conlon said. She said "it is undoubtedly a wonderful tool. However, we must recognise the harmful side to it."