Youngsters told how to detect online predators

ADVICE has been given to children and their parents about how to avoid grooming by online predators on social media.

NSPCC Wales and Swansea University have joined forces to shine a light on some of the language used by paedophiles to gain their victims’ trust.

As part of the launch day held at Swansea University’s Bay Campus on Wednesday, some of the key figures behind the project explained what parents and young people should be aware of.

Ruth Mullineux, project lead with NSPCC Wales said: “The NSPCC provides a lot of resources to help people. It can be a daunting process and parents may feel they don’t know as much about social media as their children.

“On our website we have parents’ guides, lesson plans and various tools they can use. You’re not alone in this. You know how to keep your children safe, but if you need help we’re here to help.”

The research, conducted by Swansea University’s Department of Applied Linguistics, involved studying the language and methods in numerous chat logs from convicted paedophiles.

It discovered that it could take a matter of hours for a groomer to arrange a meeting with a child – in one case less than 20 minutes.

The research has now been compiled into anti-grooming guides called Stop TIME Online for professionals, parents and children on how to avoid online grooming.

Professor Nuria Lorenzo-Dus, professor of Applied Linguistics at Swansea University, said: “One of the most worrying things about online grooming is that the statistics show a growth in this kind of crime, but we’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg.

“It is a crime that is unreported but the issue is huge... but we’re working to find solutions for this problem.”