1 in 7 parents have no idea what their children are viewing on the Internet.

3 out of 4 children who have used the Internet have encountered material that has made them feel uncomfortable.

2 out of 5 children have encountered scenes of violence on the Internet.

One third of children are unaware of the dangers of using the Internet.
 
49 per cent of children have engaged in sexual conversations with people they have encountered on the Internet.

Paedophiles are known to use the Internet as a way of ‘grooming’ children, i.e. to lure them into a false sense of security in order to facilitate sexual assaults. This so-called grooming period can last for months with children being entirely unaware of the deception.
 

Taken from http://www.strathclyde.police.uk

The two main areas of risk are unsuitable contacts and content. You can’t see the person you contact online so you have no idea who they are. And whilst the vast majority of material on the Internet is legal it is easy to stumble across information or images that may be unsuitable for children.

Unsuitable contacts
Unsuitable contacts can be picked up through social networking websites.  These include: Bebo, My Spaces, Piczo, Facebook, You Tube, Blogger, MSN Spaces.

These websites allow children to create webpages and display details about themselves.  They allow children to share email addresses messenger details etc.  Children can then be contacted outside of these web communities in unmonitored situations.

Children then lay themselves open to strangers talking to them.  Some strangers even pretend to be young people and use this way of getting to meet young people.

Unsuitable material
Using the internet completely unfiltered can allow children to see websites that contain pornography and harmful websites. You can buy programs like Net-Nanny to protect children against these websites.