It doesn't matter what site you look at, which forum you visit or how strictly you police a chat room, if there is a bad person out there, they will find what they are looking for. What they look for varies so widely that you could post a picture of a horse's ass in a gimp suit and someone would want to talk to it.

A child/teenager just wants to play/chat with people, they don't care about such things as safety, protection, security or common sense precautions. Displaying pictures that are provocative or deliberately suggesting the subject is older than they are, is downright silly, but hey, what person hasn't dressed up to appear older than they are? At least with webcams you see the person warts and all - and you can pull the plug if it gets naughty.

It's so easy to get to a porn site by accident by Googleing some innocent sounding phrase that it's a nightmare to police. We bought a new computer and plugged it in. Within 4 minutes of setting up our email account, we had 2 Emails asking us if we wanted to play with Russian girls... Even with Spam blockers, firewalls and parental controls on highest, I still find explicit and unsolicited adverts for viagra, soft drugs and "personal services" in my inbox.

80 years ago it was saucy postcards from France and ankles showing - 60 years ago it was dirty postcards from Algeria and knees showing - 40 years ago it was naughty polaroids and mini-skirts - 20 years ago it was the porno video and bare breasts. This decade, it's webcams and profile sites. It's no wonder that the 'perverts' are more numerous - it's easier for them to find their target audience/victims.   

I have to say that I would discourage Limpit from signing up to any profile site, but I can't keep her wrapped up in cotton wool for ever. Sooner or later, she is going to have to learn common sense ~ a commodity that seems in very short supply these days.

LTS