TEENS are being reminded by police of the need for awareness of online safety with the relaunch of a Keep it to Your Selfie campaign.

North Yorkshire Police (NYP) is re-launching the campaign, originally published in the summer of 2015, which centres around three videos encouraging boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 18 to think before they post images and information online.

The re-launch of the campaign coincides with October half term – when children are off school and spending more time online.

In addition, it is hoped the campaign will act as a timely reminder of the need for young people to really think about their online safety, after the figures for cyber-enabled sexual crimes against a person aged seventeen or under has seen an increase of 23 per cent.

In 2017, there were 91 crimes recorded between 1 January and 31 December. So far in 2018, there have been 112.

Online predators take advantage of young people being so active on social media and chat sites and use techniques to engage with their victims in order to groom them and exploit them.

Superintendent Mark Khan, head of cybercrime at North Yorkshire Police, said: “North Yorkshire Police remains committed to protecting our online communities, in particular those who are most vulnerable.

“There is a growing need for children and young people to be educated around online sexual exploitation. We need to take every opportunity to highlight the dangers to them and promote the importance of staying safe online.

“We first published the videos in 2015, so I know we are now targeting a new group of people who were previously too young to fully understand the messages in the campaign.

“The internet, social media in particular, is a place where paedophiles can groom children by posing as someone else and we have to make young people aware of that. Many people become too comfortable too quickly engaging with people online who they don’t even know. It is so important to make sure that the person you are chatting to online is genuine.

“I hope the videos help young people stop and think about what they are doing before posting anything online.

“We understand that young victims can feel embarrassed in coming forward with information because of what they might have shared online. We want to reassure them we have experienced officers who will help anyone who reports this type of crime. Every report to us is treated in confidence and with professionalism”.

Anyone with any concerns about someone’s behaviour online should contact police on 101.

For information and advice about online safety visit https://northyorkshire.police.uk/staying-safe/safer-online/.

The Keep it to your Selfie videos can be found on the North Yorkshire Police website: https://northyorkshire.police.uk/what-we-do/public-campaigns/keep-it-to-your-selfie/.