Mobiles...

How would you feel if a embarrassing picture of you was on the internet - forever?

Chris is 15 and has just got home from school on a Friday night and is really miserable. He has just split up with his girlfriend Maria.

When they were together they messed around with each others camera phones – sending teasing photos when they were apart, and taking photos of the two of them when they were together. The pictures were just a bit of fun, but they sometimes had things in them which you wouldn’t want anyone else to see, like semi naked shots.

Tonight, he found out that Maria – feeling bitter, has text some of the pictures of him to her friends and they in turn have text them to his friends. The images are now all around the school, and to make it worse his teacher has found out about it. They now both have to go and see their teacher with their parents on Monday.

Chris is horrified that something so personal and fun has now escalated into this humiliation. Chris fears that she may have posted the pics on her blog too and this means they could be all over the net.

What should you do?

• Think before you send. Get your friends’ permission before taking pictures of them, and especially before sending pictures to someone else or to the Internet.
• Remember that as soon as you have sent them, you can’t control where they end up.
• Only give out your mobile number and other personal details to people you already know and trust offline. Never reply to text messages from someone you don’t know.
• If you are receiving rude or threatening text messages, save the messages and tell an adult that you trust. You can also contact your mobile phone operator to see what they can do to block these nasty messages.