The internet is a wonderful tool for learning and information gathering, even for befriending new people. Chat rooms provide an interesting medium for interaction with new people. It is, however, important to know how to chat safely. Knowing with whom one is actually conversing with is impossible, due to the relative anynomity allowed by the internet. This is something that the young sometimes fail to understand and forget. Personal information like real name, address, phone number, pictures etc. shouldn't be revealed while chatting. Similarly, meeting a "chat-acquaintance" should only be done with the knowledge and presence of one of the parents.

The campaign poster will be sent to schools, with the hope that it will attract attention and stimulate discussion about the safe utilisation of the internet. The purpose of the campaign is to remind about the nature of the internet and instruct in safe chatting, not to cause fear or distrust.

The contents of the poster (images and text, not the actual poster), in Finnish, can be found here. The poster has also been translated to Swedish in cooperation with the Association of Home and School in Finland (Förbundet Hem och Skola i Finland) and can be viewed here.

The campaign was first introduced two years ago in Denmark. The police in Denmark were contacted, in ever increasing numbers, by parents of abused children. Finland has also had some pedophile cases where the offender had found the victim in the chat rooms of the internet. The campaign poster has been translated to Finnish and published with a permission from Denmark's Council for Crime Prevention, Det Kriminalpraeventive Råd.

For further information contact Executive Secretary Hannu Takala (phone: +358 9 1825 7860, email: hannu.takala@om.vn.fi).