BY JACK WELCH

IN an age when explicit and harmful sites across the internet are in the reach of children and young people at the touch of a button, secure web browsing needs to be regarded as a national priority.

Personal ownership of tablets/smartphones help to make these visits to potentially harmful content all the more possible, if children are allowed to browse unchecked.

In 2014, Ofcom found that over a third (34 per cent) of young people aged between 5-15 owned their own tablet; a marked increase from the same research in 2013.

This, in itself, is not a primary concern and should be looked at as a natural change in how younger generations communicate and use technology, where their safety can be managed properly if parents/teachers can make themselves aware of the risks they bring, alongside wider benefits.

However, the scale of problems within Dorset and beyond when it comes to grooming and exploitation is yet to be fully understood.

The British Crime Survey highlighted this week that more than six million adults are ‘survivors’ of sexual, physical or psychological abuse before they were 16, with very few cases reported to the authorities.

Dorset Police’s own online scheme saw 67 suspect offenders arrested in the first six months this year.

If there is one way to communicate with younger children these sensitive issues, the NSPCC’s ‘PANTS’ campaign is a great way to help broach a conversation to understand more about personal safety – and it has a very catchy animated film to go with it.

Schools themselves must make some effort if their pupils are to have a good comprehension of their own welfare, as well as knowing what in reality is and is not acceptable.

Plan International UK released government figures this week illustrating the scale of sex crimes in schools, which trebled from 719 in 2011/12 to nearly 2,000 in 2014/15.

Having inadequate PSHE education is no longer an answer.

The complexity of issues online and in the physical world is all too present and brushing them aside is doing children a gross disservice as they grow older.