Sunday, 8 November 2009

Cyber Mentors

The Internet can be a worrying place for children, especially when you hear stories about online bullying.

www.cybermentors.org.uk is a UK charity and a community where children can get support and advice from other children, as well as trained professionals - whether they are experiencing problems online or out in the physical world.

The young volunteers who make up the cyber mentor fellowship have all been trained by the charity to be children's first port of call if they feel they cannot talk about their problems with a grown-up.

They will support and encourage youngsters - urging them to go to a parent or teacher - but there are also councillors available to deal with any serious issues.
Since the site went live a few months ago they have helped 70,000 children, and have just trained up their 1,000th volunteer.

Users need to register to talk to a mentor, and they do ask for some details about your mobile phone, which the site's creators say is not used for marketing purposes - just their own internal research.

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