CHILDREN as young as seven are posing online safety concerns for adults watching social media expand and technology filter down to primary school pupils.

Now in its 11th year, Insafe’s Safer Internet Day took place across Europe yesterday, with the aim of promoting safe and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones.

Insafe is a network of European centres, including in the UK, raising awareness of online safety.

In Swindon, Wiltshire Police sent PCSO Mandi Coles to Ruskin Junior School, where she held a number of talks with pupils regarding online behaviour and how to operate safely.

The community officer, who herself has been working with the police for 11 years, said handheld devices were now a common occurrence amongst children, such as those at Ruskin.

“They’re all on it. Lots of children are on Facebook as young as Year Three (seven and eight-year-olds),” she said.

“We are just trying to get them to understand how to use it safely. It’s all very well doing work with the children, but if the parents at home are not internet safe, it can make it far more of a challenge.

“It is all such an everyday part of their life now. They all have smartphones, iPads and tablets. Everything is so accessible to them.

“It is particularly difficult with personal information. Something as little as no pictures in their uniform or not saying they will be walking home on their own, can be massive.”

Organised in partnership with the school and Swindon Local Safeguarding Children Board, PCSO Coles made efforts to reinforce previous safety messages for the pupils.

The long-term aim, she said, is to drum an automatic reaction into the children, where unacceptable behaviour leads to the correct report being made to the correct authority.

There are also concerns for the role of adults in the future of children online, and even children outpacing their elders on the world wide web.

“With Facebook and social media, a lot of the issues do centre around saying or doing things online,” said PCSO Coles.

“If you’re in the playground you wouldn’t say some things face to face, but it’s more anonymous online. You type it and don’t fully think about the consequences.

“Bullying can be quite harmful for the children because they don’t want to go to school if they don’t feel safe. For me, some of the kids are more internet-savvy than the adults, to be honest.

“That’s why we need to make sure some parents are up-to-speed with their children.

“New social media is changing every day. “ For more information on safer internet use, visit www.saferinternet.org.