Today I would like to focus on what young people need to do if they ARE approached. Too many child-watch organisations focus on the risk and how to reduce it, and very few equip young people with a check-list of what to do if they are approached.

So here is my approach - its by no means complete or exhaustive, so please do not email me with criticism! Your constructive additions to this list, will be most welcomed, however.

The first point for us all to keep in perspective is that, the chances are if they are approached, many young people will ignore and dismiss the attention - and they probably will not even mention it to you.

It is important that they dismiss the approach - whilst it might appear brave and courageous to try and "trap" the individual, you are unlikely to, and, moreover, the apparent interest on your part will increase the predator's confidence when he approaches his next potential victim. Close them down immediately with a dismissal. Never, never let the incident pass - here's what you need to do: (1) Record ALL the information - if its a cellphone text or email - save it and note the time they received it; A chatroom approach, they should copy and paste a chunk of the chatroom script - especially the part that includes the approach - record the time they were approached and the "nickname" of the individual who made the approach. (2) Report IMMEDIATELY to a responsible adult. Usually that will be you, the parents.

(3) Contact the service provider IMMEDIATELY. The service provider could be the cellphone company the ChatRoom webmaster or the Internet Service Provider - all will usually have procedures for dealing with this kind of event. It is important you note my point: "IMMEDIATELY" - if you make contact immediately, the chances are the service provider can record additional information, and may even be able to pinpoint the individual.

(4) Report to the authorities. The Bermuda Police Service needs to be made aware of these kinds of approaches as soon as possible so that their child protection unit can get to work - the procedure is the same as the reporting of any criminal activity.

(5) Retain ALL records of the incident. The service providers and the Police may not have all the information they need, so its important you retain all records of the incident so that they can be used by the authorities.

It is important to re-emphasise that the chances of your son or daughter being approached in this way are very, very small indeed, but as they say: "one approach is one too many".

Bob Mellor is a senior business technologist with more than 20 years' experience in the IT industry. He is accredited by the British Computer Society as a Chartered IT Professional, and currently Technology Consulting Manager at Bermuda Microsystems Group. He can be contacted on bob@bmg.bm His views do not reflect those of The Royal Gazette or Bermuda Microsystems Group, and are purely based on his personal experiences and knowledge.