Parents, monitor children’s activity on the Internet – ASP Jacobs

Parents are being warned to monitor closely, their children’s activity on the Internet.{{more}}

The advice has come from Acting Superintendent of Police, Ruth Jacobs, who was addressing a police scholarship presentation ceremony at the Old Montrose Police Station last week.

Jacobs, who is also head of the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, spoke about how recruitment for human trafficking is done via the Internet and urged parents to pay more attention to this.

“A lot of us as parents, we don’t realise that and we don’t supervise our children,” she said.

Jacobs said she has seen on social networking site Facebook, children, who will give false information as to their age and the school they attend.

“I see children who will tell you that they are 18 and attending the Girls’ High School and I know that they are 10 and 11 years old and are not attending Girls’ High School. They might be attending Prep (Kingstown Preparatory) school or some other primary school,” Jacobs said.

“I know of parents who will lock their girls in the house. Everywhere they (parents) going, they going with me. Everywhere they going, they are carrying the girl… but they leave the boys outside, wandering and doing anything they want to do.

“I want to encourage our parents, it is no more like that. The same things that are being done to our girls, the same things are being done to our boys. I want to encourage you to lock up all of them. Carry all of them with you. In the same spirit that you carry the girls, I want to encourage you to carry the boys in the same spirit.”