Parental controls on the Internet

I saw an event advertised recently that was about childhood and the internet,rnand was looking at the areas of safety and regulation. The event wasrnbilled as ‘an opportunity to consider the emerging regulatory and public policyrnpriorities for protecting young web users’ and covered topics such as ‘adultrnand offensive material, unwanted attention via social media and damagingrnwebsites, such as those promoting hatred and forms of self-harm.

The degreernto which young people engage with the internet and use it to help with theirrneducation and understanding of the world is only going to increase, and it isrnimportant that they do so safely and aren’t exposing themselves to extra risksrnand dangers.

However,rnand I may be being unfair as it could be that the event will offer a balancedrnview that includes positive messages about using the internet, by obsessingrnabout the dangers it represents there is a risk that we discourage people fromrnusing it for the many wonderful things it can offer.

Online safety

The BBC ran a storyrnthis week about online safety and the risks that young people face online whichrnincluded a survey (commissioned by the Anti-BullyingrnAlliance) that includes the worrying statistic that 55% of young people inrnEngland accept cyber bullying as part of everyday life.

The report was also based upon a survey drawn up by the ISC2 IT security education group,rnwhich shows that 18% of the children queried said they had arranged offlinernmeetings with friends made via the web. The report states that while youngrnpeople are technologically competent they do not always necessarily understandrnwhat is risky.

Regulation

The other aspect of this event that I noted was the issue of regulation. Personally, I’mrnnot sure that regulation will automatically make children safer online. Proactive onlinernchild safety should be an obvious priority for any society. However, censorshiprnor regulation may not automatically be the best way forward as it may create anrnunrealistic and inaccurate expectation that the internet is safe and risk free.

The unfortunate reality is that online abuse exists – the internet is full ofrnpeople and all the ‘people problems’ are there. Bullying for example, is arnreality that kids do to each other online, but that is a human problem, andrnit’s the bullying that is the problem, not the internet.

My instinct tells me that parentalrncontrol is the way forward (to prevent the behaviour and to let childrenrnknow how to protect themselves) rather than censorship or government ledrnregulation. What I want to achieve as a parent is not just about safety butrnabout making sure my children can become happy, effective, able digitalrncitizens.

In order to monitor online activities properly we (as parents) have to fully understandrnthe world children are operating in. Positive mediation where we activelyrnencourage safe online activities can increase children’s competencies andrnconfidence; however restrictive mediation has the potential to lead to lowerrndigital skills.

A parent’s natural instinct and overriding priority is to ensure children are notrnvulnerable to harm. My worry is that if I practise more restrictive regulation,rnwhile my children will encounter fewer risks, they may develop lower digitalrnskills and have fewer opportunities in life.

Another worrying statistic from the BBC report was that 40% of parents surveyed acknowledgedrnthat they did not know how to respond to cyber bullying. On this theme, arnrecent article in ThernTelegraph, covered the importance of parental intervention and protectionrnbut included a warning that “Never before have parents known so little aboutrnthe mistakes their children are making on a daily basis, or been less educatedrnabout the perils and pitfalls they face, or less able to offer any wisdom orrnguidance.”

Effective considered parental efforts can empower children online by enhancing theirrnopportunities and digital skills while also going some way to reducing the riskrnfrom online harm.

To support this there I think is a need more for people of all ages to have a widerrnunderstanding of digitalrncitizenship which balances the dangers that exist online with more positivernmessages and provides the wider level of awareness that young people need tornhave.

I’d be grateful for any comments you have about how we get the balance right betweenrnregulation and education, or about child online safety.

Thank you for reading.

References and resources:

• – The nine elements of digitalrn citizenship that all students must understandrn http://www.sec-ed.co.uk/best-practice/the-nine-elements-of-digital-citizenship-that-all-students-must-understand
• Telegraphrn – Internet safety: it’s time to learn what your children know http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationadvice/10370012/Internet-safety-its-time-to-learn-what-your-children-know.html
• BBCrn – Young net users engage in ‘risky’ behaviour http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24580139
• ISC2rn IT security education group https://www.isc2cares.org/Default.aspx
• Anti-bullyingrn Alliance http://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/
• EUrn Kids Online http://www.lse.ac.uk/media@lse/research/EUKidsOnline/Home.aspx
• Childrn Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/?utm_source=ie9&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=pinned-ie9