There’s no denying that the Internet presents a bit of a problem for parents. With so much potentially inappropriate or even dangerous content and conversations taking place all the time, what’s the answer? Should we be blocking children’s access to various sites or give them a little more credit when it comes to their online safety?
Safer Internet Day, an annual event run by InSafe, took place earlier this week. The day was devised to highlight and promote issues regarding the use of online technology and mobile phones among young people.
To celebrate the day this year, Habbo Hotel, a global virtual community and social game for young teens, asked more than 61,000 young people from 33 different countries about how they use the Internet.
Some of the statistics were a little worrying but hardly surprising, showing that children do infect their computers with viruses, give away some of their personal details and come across online bullying:
· 24% of children aged eight and under currently use the Internet without supervision.
· 24% witness online bullying of someone they know in real life at least once a month and 1 in 10 see it happen on a daily basis.
· 55% have seen nasty comments and alterations made to photos and videos as a way of bullying and embarrassing others.
· 43% have deliberately hidden some kind of online activity from their parents.
· A third of those questioned regretted sharing personal details online.
Many parents, and often the media, are far too quick to blame social networks and online communities for encouraging this kind of behaviour and act rashly by blocking their child’s access to the Internet.
However, with more and more children and teenagers using the Internet at home and at school, it’s hardly surprising that bullying which normally takes place in the playground would be transferred to an online environment.
I spoke with Emma Monks, Habbo’s resident safety expert about what parents can do to make sure their children are safe. She said the key is for parents to be open with their children and talk to them about their online behaviour:
“The biggest piece of advice I could ever give a parent is to be involved.
“Keep the lines of communication open about what they like to do and who they talk to so that your child can feel comfortable coming to you for advice if they feel uneasy about an online situation.”
Like many issues with young people, it seems the answer is to help teach them how to be safe whilst also respecting their judgement and listening to what they have to say instead of making a decision for them. Having said that, I’m not a parent myself and I imagine this might be much tougher in practice and could take some time.
Although some children do act inappropriately online, putting their safety and privacy at risk or threatening others, it seems they often aren’t given enough credit and many are actually quite savvy when it comes to online interactions and behaviour:
· More than half are as aware of their safety online as they are in the real world.
· 49% already have some of their Internet access limited by a parent or guardian in one way or another.
· 55% would never open an attachment from someone unfamiliar or visit a site they didn’t recognise.
· 97% would be unwilling to share their address with someone they didn’t know online.
· 83% said that they have never used someone else’s identity during online interactions.
Becca Caddy is a BitchBuzz Tech columnist and freelance writer. You can follow her @beccacaddy or read her blog beccacaddy.com.
Image via VauVau's Flickr.