What can parents do to protect their children online?

Paul Woodward is the primary school head teacher that hit the headlines recently for speaking out against parents who allow their children to sign up to Facebook despite being underage. He estimates that at least 60 per cent of the 270-plus children at his school in the Forest of Dean have access to social networking sites. He has even threatened parents that he will report them to social services. Facebook was also in the news at the weekend as it looks as if the site could remove the current age restriction of 13 and above, potentially opening the social network to millions of children.

Woodward, a branch secretary for the National Association of Head Teachers, is concerned that youngsters who use the sites risk being exposed to pornography and online grooming. Woodward argues that Internet companies and the Government should do more to protect impressionable children.

It is a dilemma for parents. Social media is inescapable in today’s society and parents feel pressured in to letting their children sign up to sites, so much so, that according to the latest research by EU Kids Online, 43% of 9-12 year olds in the UK are actively using Facebook, despite as mentioned the site imposing an age limit of 13 and above.

Nobody can deny that Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites are a marvellous addition to our society but they are not designed with children in mind. There are three areas that provide danger to children: the content of the site, the contacts children make online and the conduct of the users on that site.

With their lack of moderation sites like Facebook are not suitable for children as they do not protect against these thrests. Beat Bullying UK have estimated that around a quarter of young teenagers have experienced cyber bullying. Children tend to over share information on social networking sites, James Steyer from Forbes polled Stanford University students and found that 70% of them had posted things onto Facebook that they later regretted, this stat would surely be even higher still amongst children and younger teens if the change does happen.

Woodward’s approach is half right; children should not be on certain social networks like Facebook but equally they should not be shut off from social media altogether.

So what can parents do? Many adopt the approach of banning social media from their children until they are deemed old enough. That approach is naïve and counterproductive to a child’s development. Like it or not, the ways that people interact and make friends are changing. For instance, a study in 2009 found that over 30% of new couples in America met online. Equally as mentioned over the last decade social media has become central to our lives and is accessible 24/7 in today’s world, it is here to stay.

All of this means we cannot simply put cotton wool in our children’s ears and hope that they will suddenly become savvy social networkers, nor can they be thrown in to the likes of Facebook. They need to be educated, not merely told. They need to be gradually introduced to social networks and trained on how to use them safely.

There are social networks out there created just for children and this is the approach we are trying to cultivate. Parents need to be involved to be constantly aware of their children’s actions and have the power to gradually adjust their security settings over time. Parents also need to educate their children on the importance of internet safety and enforce rules to be followed.

However the crucial point is that simply learning about internet safety is not enough, children need to practise it. With the right nurturing, guidance and practice, children can then have the best possible preparation when the time comes to make the transition into more grown up social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

If Facebook does decide to drop the age restriction then it needs a drastic redesign to make it suitable for children as young people need a more controlled environment to develop and learn.

Dr. James Lane is the Director of Education at Pora Ora.

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• coolbellup

  What on earth does the fact that adults meet on line and get married have to do with children?
  ” Friends” online they are not “friends” they are a contact and could be some of them could be quite sinister.
   I know of no children who have  met a proper friend on line.
  I can tell you we have to sort out all the trouble on line gossip causes.
   

• Howard

  People like Dr Lane want it both ways and to look ‘expert’.

  Children are the responsibility of their parents, as mine was when he was younger only a couple of years ago.

  It is up to parents to LEARN about computers and the internet and places like facebook. That is THEIR job as parents and this pathetic excuse of not knowing anything about the internet is unacceptable. LEARN about it.

  Underage children should not be given smart phones or phones that can access the net unsupervised. That is a very easy thing to do.

  All Internet access should be on a PC that is in common areas in the house, like the kitchen or sitting room or dining room.

  Parents can easily check browser history and other easy to use monitoring software. They must monitor who their children are friends with and what they do when they visit them. That is nothing knew and responsible parents have been doing that for a long long time. It is unacceptable for parents to throw their arms in the air and say it’s all too hard, they can’t control or monitor their children ….. Then don’t HAVE children if you cannot do the basic things that you have a responsibility to do !!

  IOt is not the job of the Government or the rest of us to control your children. The Gov should stay out of the Internet.

• http://twitter.com/Neysh_id AlphaEnOmega

  That is the one million dollar question my friend. The only way that could happen is that you lock your daughter or son like repunzil or go back 50 years in time

• VicTheBrit

  Facebook is basically an invitation to smear you name and face all over the internet, unless you very carefully sign up for confidentiality and uncheck all those sharing boxes…
  Do you Facebook? Try Googling your own name and be shocked!
  I dropped Facebook a couple of years ago because I discovered my name was everywhere, my and my friends photos were available to anyone and I had thousands of “friends” I had never met.

• http://www.1monthloanuk.co.uk/ 1 month loan

  cyber bullying has a far greater psychological effect on kids than real world, on the contrary virtual fights helps building up the confidence…

• http://profile.yahoo.com/BGG5BCQ35AP6UJET5MEJNQKH4A Joe

  “Social media is inescapable in today’s society”

  Oh yes it is! Don’t join Facebook or other such sites. I’m not on Facebook nor do I want to be on it.

• chrisp666

  And again, this time in English?