Police urge parents to ‘talk to your kids’ about tech
53 minutes ago
BBC
Police have advised people talk to their children about technology and model the behaviour they want their children to follow
The Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy Annual Report 2025, found schools and services were placing a greater focus on protecting young people in a “complex world of digital safety”, amid concerns about harmful sexual content
The report revealed 20 cases of child sexual exploitation, 96 of sexual abuse and 72 of harmful sexual behaviour were referred to safeguarding services in 2025
Laura Simpson, digital safety development officer for Guernsey Police, said people were starting to have a better understanding of what counted as harmful content online
She said: “Talk to your kids, get them to teach you… because the more conversation you can have the better.”
More news stories for Guernsey
Listen to the latest news for Guernsey
“With services now like the sexual assault referral centre at Willow House… we are really making massive strides forward in making it easier for people to report when anything happens,” she said
“I think the more that we can do to make anything around reporting easier the better.”
Simpson said the mobile phone as a piece of kit was not the issue but the “unmet need that is driving that want and almost desperation to be in touch and to know what’s going on all the time”
She said: “I see and work with older members of our community as well and they are just as vulnerable in some instances to the harmful content
“It’s so difficult to know now what is true, what is accurate, and that can affect anybody if we think about AI and image generation.”
Supporting young people
Simpson advised parents to talk to their children about the harms and dangers of online content
She said: “It’s having that conversation because children and young people are getting something from the online world that they’re not getting from us as adults and they’re not getting from their daily relationships
“This is a really challenging, ever-changing world but I think being curious, talking openly, honestly, and modelling the behaviour you want to see
“If you don’t want your kids to have their phones in their bedrooms overnight… don’t have yours in your bedroom.”
Follow BBC Guernsey onXandFacebookandInstagram. Send your story ideas tochannel.islands@bbc.co.uk
