safer internet day 2012 · the theme for safer internet day 2012 was connecting generations. to...
Post on 14-Jul-2020
0 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
Safer Internet Day 2012 Connecting Generations Event
The theme for Safer Internet Day 2012 was Connecting Generations. To bring this theme to life, the UK
Safer Internet Centre hosted a multi-generational, multi-stakeholder event, bringing together children,
young people, their parents and grandparents, plus representatives from industry, government, law
enforcement, academia, charities and parenting groups.
In the morning of Safer Internet Day, a group of children, parents and grandparents met at the Department
for Education. Ministers Tim Loughton and Lynne Featherstone (co-chairs of the UK Council for Child
Internet Safety) opened the day, sharing their experiences as
Ministers and also as parents of tech-savvy kids. It was emphasised
how the internet provides fantastic opportunities for all users and
they clarified that it is important to listen to the ‘people at the front
line who are using the internet every day’ when thinking about what
can be done to ensure the internet is as safe as possible.
“The UK Safer Internet Centre believes that dialogue between children, young
people, parents and carers is fundamentally important to staying safe online.”
To begin these conversations and encourage cross-generational
dialogue, three focus groups were brought together on Safer Internet
Day. The groups of primary school children, secondary school pupils
and parents and grandparents, discussed a common list of questions
covering the different uses and needs of internet users of different
ages, the role they could each play in supporting other generations to
stay safe online, and how the internet could be used as a tool to bring
people together. They were joined in these discussions by guests from
Club Penguin, Lego, Moshi Monsters, Facebook, YouTube, Google,
Microsoft and Made for Mums.
“It is really important that these voices get raised at the
highest level, which is why this is a connecting
generations and connecting stakeholders discussion.”
The afternoon event in Parliament provided a platform for the focus groups to share their conclusions and
ideas with industry, government, law enforcement, academia, charities and
parenting groups. It was a lively discussion between the panel of 34 and an
audience of over a hundred representatives from organisations including
the BBC, the British Association for Adoption and Fostering, CEOP, the
Department for Education, Disney, Family and Parenting Institute,
Gransnet, Metropolitan Police, Mumsnet, NSPCC, O2, Ofcom, Race Online
2012, Research in Motion, TalkTalk, the Industry Trust, LEGO, the National
Deaf Children’s Society, The Who Cares? Trust and Trend Micro.
Ministers meet the focus groups
Alun Michael MP opens the event
- What do you need help with
online?
- Who do you think should/who does
support you online?
- How would you like to be
supported online?
- What top tips would you share with
children about how to stay safe
online?
- At what point do you interact with
others in your online journey?
- What top tips and for who do you
have for using the internet safely?
- How do you think different
generations can use the internet
together safely?
Findings from the Focus Groups
1. Primary Focus Group
Twelve children aged 8-11 years old took part in a number of activities to discuss their enjoyment of the
internet, who they use the internet with, and how they could stay safe online.
The group were highly enthusiastic about their use of the internet and in
sharing sites and services they enjoyed. They revealed that gaming and
watching videos online (both on YouTube and TV on demand services) were
the two most popular pursuits online. The children reported that they used a
wide range of devices to access the internet, including tablets and parents’
smartphones. All of the children said that they used a desktop/laptop computer to access the internet, with
half of the group also accessing the internet via a TV and three-quarters via a games console. Most young
people in the group said that they used the internet with friends and/or siblings. Although, eight out of the
twelve children said that they sometimes use the internet by
themselves.
The group said that they would like to receive help about
staying safe online from a range of people. Around three
quarters wanted help from their parents, almost all of the
children believed that their teacher should support them to stay
safe online, and ten out of the twelve wanted a friend’s
support. They also pointed out that they would like to watch
videos to learn about staying safe online.
While there were areas where the children said they wanted support, such as knowing which sites they are
allowed on and knowing whether something was spam, they
suggested they could also play a role in supporting other
generations to stay safe online. The children were very
knowledgeable about ways to stay safe online, and provided a
wide range of advice for both young people and adults. Their
advice included tips on creating a strong password, thinking
before clicking on adverts and hyperlinks, not revealing
personal information when chatting to strangers online, not
clicking on sites that do not look real or safe, knowing how to report on sites and they advised other young
people to tell a responsible adult if they encounter difficulties online.
2. Secondary Focus Group
This group brought together twelve young people aged 14 to 17, from Glasgow, Newport, Cornwall, Belfast,
Hull and the West Midlands, including two youth representatives from the National Deaf Children’s Society.
The discussion started by considering the services most used by teens, revealing Google, Facebook and
YouTube as the most popular services. The group explained how they were accessing the internet from a
range of devices, including laptops, mobile phones and the iPod Touch.
The group discussed how they play an important role in encouraging safe use of the internet among other
generations. One participant mentioned how he had helped his grandparent set up a Facebook account,
while another participant had helped their younger sibling with privacy settings. The group developed top
tips for younger generations and their key message was for children to be nice to people online – a tip
which they felt was true for all generations.
Despite their confidence in using the internet and their
firm grasp of safety messages, the group still turned to
others for advice and valued their support when facing
various issues. The teenagers said they turned to
friends, parents, teachers, siblings and ICT experts
when they needed help online. The issues that
concerned them included misunderstandings between
people online, hacking, bullying, difficulties in spotting
fake websites, viruses and receiving friend requests
from strangers. The group also explained how they
would like a better understanding of some of the
processes behind social networks. They spoke about how they would like to understand what happens
when you make a report and stated that “we just want a better understanding of what is shown to other
people and how to stop other people from seeing it.” The deaf participants also emphasised the
importance of having subtitling when services provide videos with advice.
As teenagers move towards independence they can sometimes find it difficult to negotiate rules with their
parents about internet use. There was an overall feeling in the focus group that parents could sometimes
be overcautious. Many spoke about how parental controls were put on their devices at home, but this
could mean that the teens were unable to access sites that weren’t considered inappropriate. Different
families often adopt different strategies to help themselves keep safe. One participant mentioned that his
parents asked him to tell them every time they received a new friend request, another stated how she left
her laptop at the bottom of the stairs every evening at her parents’ request to ensure she wasn’t on the
internet when she should be asleep. The group wanted the opportunity to discuss rules like these with their
parents and to be able to negotiate with them, explaining their needs and how the rules would work from
their perspective. There was a strong desire to be trusted to manage their online lives independently. The
group felt that if the media portrayed the internet and social networks in a more positive light, then it
would be easier to demonstrate to their parents how they can be trusted online, plus it would be easier to
encourage other generations to grasp the fantastic opportunities provided by the internet.
3. Parents and Grandparents Focus Group
Thirteen parents and grandparents from across the UK came together to
discuss their perspective on supporting children to stay safe online.
Discussion considered their own, and young people’s ‘digital footprints’.
The group discussed how they may differ from one another but also
suggested there may be some overlap. For example when it came to
using webcam services not many of the parents felt fully confident in
using them, with many describing themselves as a ‘digital students’.
However the majority of the group classified themselves as a ‘digital
experts’ when discussing services like shopping and emailing. Every member of the group felt that they
were experts in at least one aspect of the internet, which was incredibly positive.
The group also discussed the key issues and support that they felt different generations may face. Although
they perceived that younger users (infants and juniors) were hugely excited about using the internet and
internet technologies, they acknowledged that they didn’t always fully understand the full context of their
online actions and weren’t always equipped to make good choices, with one participant citing her son’s
accidental purchases generating a £370 bill from use of an app. They also referenced the pressure and
social exclusion that this age group often feel with regards to using social networking sites that their friends
and older siblings may be using. They felt however that younger users were able to ask for support from
parents, teachers and older siblings.
They felt that a key issue facing teenagers was often related to ‘banter’ going wrong and jokes getting out
of hand. They citied the potential of ‘escalation and amplification’ of a joke online, with real time posting
often giving little time for reflection or consideration of the consequences. They felt that teens could ask
for support from peers and siblings and use online tools, although their experience was that for emotional
issues, teens most often turned to their parents.
The issues for parents and grandparents were advertising, identity theft and security issues in addition to
the difference between their professional and private ‘faces’ and the need for knowing about privacy
settings. They highlighted a lack of awareness of the tools that are provided by services to support users.
They had primarily sought help through using search engines to point to information and ‘looking to the
next generation’ for help – their children. It was also suggested by the group that everyone knows an
‘internet champion’ or a ‘go to’ person who could help them.
The group felt that they had an important part to play
in supporting children online, including initiating and
having conversations about internet use and risks
online. The group considered whether they were
comfortable conversations to have and what if any
barriers they had come up against. The majority of
parents explained how the discussions often happened
in response to a situation that had arisen. There were
two parents who suggested they had put rules in place in advance of their child using the internet. These
were both parents of younger children and they had discussed things such as the ‘stranger danger’ rule
before their child was allowed to play on age-appropriate social networks. A large number of the parents
felt that they were comfortable engaging in these discussions as they felt that the conversations were the
same as the offline safety conversations they were having, it was just the platform that was different.
The key barriers that they faced stemmed from a lack of understanding of these new platforms. One parent
said that “once you lose eye of the trend you easily fall behind” and another mentioned how sometimes it
is “hard to enter the sphere of the youth”. It was emphasised how their own lack of awareness about the
tools available on services sometimes prevented them from helping their child. As one parent said, “for me
it really helped this afternoon just to have somebody face-to-face to tell me that they existed”. It was also
discussed that as with many elements of growing up, young people were often testing the boundaries and
learning through experience, so these conversations need to be reinforced regularly. Some parents
suggested that these discussions were easier if you have found a common interest online to spark these
conversations, so that they could encourage the young person to teach them. The parents were positive
about the role their children could play in supporting others to stay safe online, and it was suggested that
perhaps ‘teenagers are the glue’ as they are able to support all generations when it comes to using the
internet safely.
top related