A large audience attended a forum on internet grooming and the sexual exploitation of children in both the UK andWales, held at St. Teilo's Church Hall, last week.

Those who attended included representatives from two of the town's feeder primary schools, namely Tenby Junior School and Manorbier School.

Local health visitor, Mrs. Tina Amphlett, was also present, as was Mr. John Hughes, representing Rotary International.

Other guests included Kay Richmond, regional programme officer for SI Wales South, and SI Federation officer Carwen Wynne Howells.

A large number of representatives from SI clubs, both across the county and Wales South, were also in attendance. Apologies were received from County Clr. Ann Hughes, cabinet member for children's services in Pembrokeshire, and local MP Stephen Crabb.

Leading the discussion was PC Karen Burch, the e-crime officer for Dyfed Powys Police. She gave a detailed and unsettling account of the ways in which the internet, in particular social networks, can be used in order to groom vulnerable youngsters.

She provided a wealth of valuable information on ways in which parents can protect their children.

A priority was to monitor their activity on social networks such as Facebook, Club Penguin and Bebo, and help them to understand what personal information should always be withheld, such as mobile numbers, email accounts and home addresses.

Although Facebook sets a lower age limit of 13, it is relatively easy for younger children to set up an account by lying about their age.

Children are often far too open about personal data, and can easily get out of their depth in a kind of chat roulette. They are then easy targets for grooming, often through the use of blackmail and guilt.

Grooming usually starts small, often by building up a network of potential victims, sharing images which become increasingly inappropriate, offering gaming benefits or sharing secrets until the potential victim feels unable to tell anyone what is taking place.

Although the Police offer information sessions about ecrime to all schools, this is not part of the core IT lesson. Facebook has over 800 million users, 350 million access it through their mobiles, 250 photographs are uploaded each day and 50 per cent of users log on every day.

Education both at home and at school is the way forward in order to build trust and protect our children from the dangers of social networks. Useful websites are http://www.thinkuknow.com">www.thinkuknow.com and http://www.getsafeonline.org">www.getsafeonline.org whilst concerned parents and teachers can also check out the 'Stop. Think. Connect' campaign both on and off Facebook.

The next speaker was Doctor Sam Clutton, senior research policy officer for Barnardo's.

She presented some very disquieting information about the trafficking of children into the UK from overseas. There are over 44 source countries and a recent report has shown that 330 children were known victims of trafficking last year.

The children are trafficked for a variety of purposes, including sexual exploitation, forced labour and petty crime.

They are often criminalised by their traffickers, have no ID and do not know how to seek help from the various UK agencies.

Barnardo's is committed to providing the victims of trafficking with accredited interpreters, expert counselling, legal advice and education, but this can only be achieved by building up a level of trust.

Doctor Clutton concluded that, despite the lack of data concerning child trafficking in Wales, it was essential to raise awareness of this issue, and support the invaluable work of the NSPCC and Barnardo's to provide phonelines, advice and consultations.

The final speaker was Menna Thomas, a development officer for Barnardo's.

She gave a disturbing account of the extent of the sexual exploitation of children (CSE) in Wales.

These victims are amongst the most vulnerable in our communities, suffering from low esteem, often as a result of domestic abuse, bullying or grooming. She went to some length to stress the fact that these children are victims, not criminals, and that we need to protect all young people, even those aged 16 or 17, from sexual exploitation.

Some key indicators are young persons who exhibit signs of physical or emotional abuse, stay out late and are missing overnight on frequent occasions.

They may also have drug or alcohol problems, have an older 'boyfriend' and are often excluded from school. However, whilst it is possible to evidence risk, all agencies have a role to play in sharing information and adopting a child-centred approach.

Menna also gave a list of useful websites for those who wish to find out more about the extent of the problem of child exploitation and trafficking - please contact Barnardo's at http://www.barnardos.org.uk">www.barnardos.org.uk.

The three speakers gave the audience much food for thought. All agreed that it had been a most enlightening if also disturbing forum.

Thanks were extended to SI Tenby's programme action officer, Dr. Anne Kelly, for all her hard work in organising this very important event, which was held, most appropriately, on Anti-Slavery Day.

All were in agreement that raising awareness of internet grooming and CSE throughout Wales was the key to helping protect our children and keep them safe from harm.