Internet Safety

The BBC have reported that a new internet 'watchdog' has been set up to protect children from harmful content. As one of the outcomes of the Byron Review, a 'Child Internet Safety Strategy' will be developed, which will:

• establish a comprehensive public information and awareness and child internet safety campaign across Government and industry including a ‘one-stop shop’ on child internet safety;• provide specific measures to support vulnerable children and young people, such as taking down illegal internet sites that promote harmful behaviour;• promote responsible advertising to children online; and • establish voluntary codes of practice for user-generated content sites, making such sites commit to take down inappropriate content within a given time.

There are lots of questions raised by this, such as: can a 'one-stop-shop' be effectively created, given the diverse nature of sites on the internet and the different safety strategies they require?; how will 'illegal internet sites' be defined and then tracked, especially if not located in the UK? ...and so on...so many unknowns. This will be a development that will need careful monitoring by all of those interested in children's use of the internet. This is not to suggest that there are not positive aspects of this initiative - a public awareness campaign regarding use of the internet has the potential to raise a number of significant issues with parents and children, but it will need to be undertaken in a way which acknowledges the agency of individuals and the considerable knowledge many already have about ways of keeping safe online.

Hector's world

Meet Hector the Dolphin, who surfs the internet ocean. He features in a series of cartoons, developed by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, which are intended to teach 5-7-year-old children about internet safety. I would have liked to have offered a review of the cartoons here but it isn't possible as my Apple laptop can't seem to access them. I like some of the guidance given on the website and the site design is clear and accessible to young children. I find when talking to many parents and teachers that they do not know how to begin to work with young children on internet safety practices, so this material should offer a starting point and will no doubt be adapted by teachers to suit their needs. Now what is needed is a similar site which offers young children guidance on offline safety e.g. what to do about sexual, emotional or physical abuse from family members. It would be unhelpful to give children the impression that is is only in online practices that self-protection strategies are necessary.