Executive summary
Our children are growing up in a digitally-enabled world. Online, they hunt for interesting facts, research school topics, play games, chat with friends, complete homework and exam coursework. They want to surf the Internet all the time, and rummage through its treasure-trove of information to stimulate their imaginations and support their education.
How vulnerable is your child?
Children make little distinction between the real world and the online world. Both are just part of a bigger world in which they live. Unlike many of
us, they are not used to life before the Internet or social networking or instant messaging or SMS.
However, a child’s innocence is sometimes blind to the dangers lurking in the online world: Dangers such as inappropriate content or more sinister
threats that can turn children into targets to be groomed. The risks – and our society’s responses to them – are forcing a generation of children to
grow up faster than they should.
So parents don’t want to make out that the Internet is a scary place or a realm where Mum and Dad always look over shoulders. If they did, the
magical sheen of the online world would quickly tarnish. Somehow, though, parents have got to stop harmful content from reaching their
children. Ultimately, they have the responsibility for making sure that their family is safe online. Perhaps, though, they also want to remove other
distractions, like social networking content during homework time. But current security controls just don’t seem to have the flexibility or the
strength to cope. And these controls can be cumbersome and complex, which presents something of a dilemma for parents.
The problem is compounded – at least in the minds of many parents – by the simple fear of being left behind by their children when it comes to
knowledge of the Internet and ability with computers. For those parents who believe that they still hold the upper hand, it’s probably only a matter
of time before they are overtaken. And when this happens, the children will take great pleasure in comprehensively outsmarting them. For parents
who are thus technologically disadvantaged, they need to know that the sensible rules they want to enforce cannot be circumvented.
It boils down to parents desperate to regain control over what their children can access online and when. Parental controls need to be robust,
appropriate and simple to use. They also need to be measured and acceptable to the children they protect. In other words, they need the respect of the whole family.
