Internet Safety for Children and Young People Today

The Internet is an increasing part of culture, in particular for the children and young people of today. This is because of schoolwork, gaming and in particular social networking are among the most popular pastimes and reports suggest that young people spend more than 27 hours a week on the internet, and the extent of usage has rocketed over the past decade (Ofcom, 2015).

People are spending twice as much time online compared to 10 years ago, fuelled by increasing use of tablets and smartphones. The biggest increase has been among young adults, with time spent online almost tripling from 10 hours and 24 minutes each week in 2005 to 27 hours and 36 minutes in 2014. E-safety is an essential part of children and young people’s lives and education in today’s digital world and it is ingrained from a very early age at school. The internet is an absolutely amazing resource and children can play, learn, create and connect and whereas young people are increasingly faced with a new world of uncertainty with the risk of cyber bullying.

The NSPCC state it is impossible to know how many children and young people are affected by online abuse. Children often don’t tell anyone because they feel ashamed or guilty, they may not know who to tell and worryingly, they may not realise they are being abused.

 The internet opens a world of exciting possibilities. But with the digital world changing all the time, it is imperative that parents and teachers keep their children and young people safe (NSPCC, 2019).  Government guidance across the UK highlights the importance of safeguarding pupils from harmful and inappropriate online material (Department for Education, 2018). This includes material accessed through devices such as computers, laptops, tablets and mobile phones, as well as platforms such as social media and online games (Welsh Government, 2018). In 2015, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan stated that all schools will be required to put in place strengthened measures to protect children from harm online - including cyber bullying, pornography and the risk of radicalisation.

The government are working hard to ensure children and young people are kept safe. Action for Children (2018) have a campaign to raise awareness on the age children have to be to join certain social media and gaming sites. This has been key in educating parents and teachers as there are so many sites on the market it is impossible to know what the age restrictions are on each one of them.  Ofcom state that children and young people are regularly adopting newer social media sites and services, and that these can bring social pressure.  More children and young people are also watching TV and films online. A quarter of internet users regularly catch up on programmes online, compared to one in ten in 2007.

Very public events that have been broadcast on TV and on social media have shown that the risks to young ‎people targeted by radical groups have risen significantly. This is very worrying. We often hear of school children who have travelled to Syria were able to access material about Daesh and foreign fighters via home but more worryingly, some accessed this information from school computers. In 2016, 56 women and girls travelled to Syria from the UK last year (Tran, 2016). Shamima Begum has been a huge storyline this year as she was radicalised and left England to go to Syria in 2015 when she was 16 (Wyatt, 2019). The latest figures from national counter-terrorism police showed women and girls were continuing to travel to Syria in worrying numbers. Figures released last July showed 43 females were thought to have gone to Syria in the previous 12 months. The government has introduced a Safer Internet Day (SID) and this took place 05 February 2019. Their campaign were publicised heavily and their slogan was "Together for a better internet". This was to try and create a better and safer internet for everyone, especially for younger users. The Safer Internet Day is coordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre, and it is a global campaign. The message is to get children and young people talking about internet safety and to raise awareness with parents and teachers.

Dangers to be aware of

Cyberbullying

According to the NSPCC, out of 10,000 children and young people 90% teens have stated that they have at some time ignored bullying they've witnessed on social media, and one third have been victims of cyberbullying themselves.

Cyberpredators

Sexual predators can stalk children and young people on the Internet, taking advantage of children's innocence, abusing their trust and, perhaps, ultimately luring them into very dangerous meetings. The pose to be young boys and girls and then reality is they are usually much older men.

Posting personal Information

Children need to be taught about social boundaries and that they must not post personal information online.

Phishing

Phishing is what cybersecurity professionals call the use of emails that try to trick people into clicking on malicious links or attachments.

Clicking on links

Children and young people are likely to click on free access to online games and these can be scams they can easily get information like bank details from children with the lure of free access and treats.

Accidentally Downloading Malware

Malware is computer software that is installed without the knowledge of permission of the child and it can harm your computer such as stealing personal information from your computer.

Posting pictures you regret

The Internet does not have a delete key and children and young people today are facing problems that was not an issue a decade ago.

Giving card details

Children and young people do not understand the dangers of giving card and bank details out online.

Pornography

One of the worst dangers of the Internet is pornography that could pop up but the biggest worry that children and young people go online to find porn.

Sexting

Sexting has spread massively and over 35% children and young people have reported sending out sexts to others in their social circle.

Gambling

Gambling has become a huge problem and even though children are not allowed in casinos, they can easily access gambling online.

Internet Matters (2019) What is safe? www.internetmatters.org

Tran, M (2016) More than 55 UK females went to Syria in 2015, data shows https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/12/more-than-55-uk-females-went-to-syria-in-2015-data-shows

NSPCC (2019) E-safety for schools https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/research-resources/schools/e-safety-for-schools/

Ofcom (2017) Children and parents: media use and attitudes report 2017 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/media-literacy-research/childrens/children-parents-2017

Williams, A (2019) Welsh Government: Online Safety in Education https://swgfl.org.uk/magazine/welsh-government-online-safety-in-education/

UK Government (2015) New measures to keep children safe online at school and at home https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-measures-to-keep-children-safe-online-at-school-and-at-home

Wyatt, T (2019) Children going to Syria https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/shamima-begum-isis-bride-baby-return-uk-syria-good-time-a8783381.html