Parents in Fife have been left “frightened and worried” after being informed of “real concern” their children could be engaging with strangers on a website that encourages sharing sexual images.
A mother of a child at Donibristle Primary School in Dalgety Bay contacted The Courier after receiving an email from Fife Council’s Safety Net service relating to controversial website and app Omegle.
The email, seen by The Courier reads: “Information has been received by Police Scotland that primary school children in Fife are visiting the website Omegle.
“There is a real concern with young people using this site. It has a strap line ‘talk to strangers’ and has no registration onto the site resulting in a difficulty of tracing those using the site.
“The site is a chat site that allows users to converse via text or webcab.
“Many users visit the website for sexual chat and webcam is used to exchange images and sexual behaviours. You have no control over who you chat to, your stranger is selected at random.
“We would like to share this information with you and encourage you to again discuss the dangers of speaking to people you don’t know online and remind young people of the need to behave the same way online as they do in the real world.”
The parent, who asked not to be named, praised the council for raising awareness, and said: “Websites or apps like this seem to be classed as legal and there doesn’t seem to be anybody trying to stop them until there’s another tragedy.”
The Courier contacted both Fife Council and Police Scotland who said they were aware of the issue and were preparing a response.
For more on this story, see Friday’s Courier.