Cyber-savvy safety net
Children need to be both better prepared and protected in order to stay safe online, write Dods political consultants Harriet Jones and Victoria Hemmingway.
The issue of how to equip children with the right skills and knowledge to navigate the increasingly complex and omnipresent online world has certainly become more prominent during the present parliament, piquing the interests of Members from all sides of the House.
The Women and Equalities, Education and Lords Communications committees have all undertaken recent inquiries looking at different aspects of this important issue, and all coming to the conclusion that more action could and should be taken.
A catalyst for this raised political interest in the subject of child online safety was the publication of Ofcom’s findings in November last year that for the first time children aged between 5 and 15 were spending more time online than watching TV.
As well as the clear benefits that ‘a world of knowledge at the touch of a button’ has for young minds, there are some significant aspects that are less desirable. As the Women and Equalities Committee found, damaging contact online does not just come from strangers, but young people’s peers as well, which increases the need to equip both children and parents with the right knowledge to produce safer behaviours.
To tackle the serious and growing issue of child sexual exploitation online, former Prime Minister David Cameron announced in December 2014 that an additional £10m would be committed to the National Crime Agency’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) which not only investigates such crimes, but also provides a range of age-specific guidance to young people, parents and professionals.
Another action the government has taken to address the issue of safeguarding children online is through Part 3 of the Digital Economy Bill which seeks to prevent under-18s accessing pornography on the internet through introducing age-verification mechanisms.
Despite this, the government has been criticised for only addressing one aspect of the issue. Whilst such actions may keep offending material from young eyes it does not equip them with the skills to navigate damaging aspects of the digital world such as online bullying, grooming and violent sexual content.
It is worth noting that in recent years, digital skills have become an increasingly important part of the curriculum which now features coding and algorithms. This knowledge is undoubtedly important in a world where AI is expected to replace many forms of employment.
However, as the Children’s Commissioner points out, this syllabus does not impart the ‘social’ elements of the online world such as how to critique content and control ones’ data.
Advocates for personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education – including the PSHE Association and the Children’s Society – have instead suggested that making this a statutory subject would empower young people to confidently negotiate both the darker corners of digital life as well as harness all the internet has to offer.
This opinion was echoed by Peers – including Baroness Kidron (CB), Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Lab) and Lord Storey (Lib Dem) – during the second reading of the Digital Economy Bill in the House of Lords as well by MPs during a recent adjournment debate.
In light of this, a holistic approach is perhaps necessary going forward; one which equips children with an array of digital skills but also puts in place appropriate protections. This may come to fruition if current provisions are paired with the PSHE Bill which is due receive its second reading on the 24 March.
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