The jury is out on whether family-friendly internet filters – which are being offered to virtually all households in Britain from later this year – will be a breakthrough in helping parents feel in control of their children's online activities. But whether they prove a popular tool or not, the consensus at a Guardian roundtable discussion was that filters could only be part of the solution to keeping children safe online.
Education, for children and their parents, was seen as the pressing need by many participants in the Virgin Media-sponsored discussion, entitled "Switched on families: Does the online world make good things happen?"
"We've got a generation of parents who simply don't know what it takes to raise a child in the digital age," said Vicki Shotbolt, CEO and founder of the Parent Zone. "When you talk to them they say they have no idea what it takes to get it right." Her feelings were echoed by Allen Scott, managing director of online security company F-Secure, who pointed out that when the internet was first set up, it was assumed it was going to transform business life, not revolutionise parenting. "As a father of four, I'm shocked and amazed at what my kids do on the internet," he said. "One minute I'm terrified, the next I'm astonished."
Participants welcomed the fact that from this autumn the new computing curriculum will be introduced to primary schools, but felt other measures were required, including more opportunities for adults to learn about how to be internet-savvy parents.
Sea-change in attitude
Claire Perry, mother-of-three and the Conservative MP who advises David Cameron on internet issues, admitted she had never attended an e-safety class herself, and said only one in 10 parents who were invited took up the opportunity. She said she wanted to see internet service providers (ISPs) "who have huge marketing budgets" to run education programmes as their way of investing back in the community. Some participants felt there needed to be a sea-change in attitude, with more parents realising they had a responsibility to learn about, and engage with, what their children were doing online.
Lisa Harker, head of strategy at the NSPCC, said there hadn't been enough attention paid to where internet safety was being taught on the curriculum, or about the ability of teachers to teach it. She thought what might be needed was a public education campaign like the road-safety campaigns of the 1970s, to alert parents to the dangers and to tell them what they needed to do about them.
But that seemed to be the hardest nettle to grasp, because the issue of exactly what parents should be doing was a difficult one. Scott said the last thing his teenage children wanted to do was talk to their parents about the internet. There was a general feeling that the issues were very different around younger children, but that from adolescence the landscape was entirely changed.
What was clear to many, though, was that despite not knowing what they should do to keep their children safe online, parents in Britain were certainly worrying about the dangers. The roundtable heard there was more interest in the issues around children's safety on the internet in the UK than in many other parts of the world. "I'm from the US originally, and there's a much more active debate around this in this country than in other markets," said Virgin Media's chief operating officer Dana Strong. Some participants felt this was because parents in the UK had a long history of panicking about new technology; others said the tabloid press had whipped up public feeling, or that the Yewtree investigation into child abuse had shone a spotlight on the dangers.
Prof Sonia Livingstone, professor of media and communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said the culture in the UK was more focused on children's rights as opposed to parents' rights, and that added to the uncertainty about who should act. There was a feeling, she said, that it was up to someone else to solve the problems.
Several participants questioned whether family-friendly filters would work in practice. There were worries both about whether they were teen-proof, and about whether they would block useful internet sites, stopping youngsters – for example – from consulting sites they needed for their homework. "There are worries around filters," said Vicki Shotbolt. "Teenagers find ever more inventive ways of getting around them, and sometimes that leads them to even more scary parts of the web." Filters were only going to be helpful to parents with younger-aged children, she said. Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group, said he feared that getting round filters would become a part of growing up, and that parents who enabled filters on their home computers were soon going to realise they were no better off. "I think we've got to say filtering is not the panacea; claiming it's 'one click to safety' is untrue," he said.
Filters were certainly not the whole solution, said Strong. "But by asking every household to think about whether they want filters, it's putting the issue out there in the public consciousness," she said. The issues around internet safety were complex ones, she said, but it was important to start a conversation about what was necessary.
Early exposure
There was no doubt in anyone's mind, though, about the extent to which the internet is now penetrating children's lives, from their earliest years. John Carr of the UK Council on Child Safety quoted the latest Ofcom figures showing that 37% of three- and four-year-olds now go online regularly, and that 28% of that age group have their own tablet, though not one that is necessarily internet-enabled. The roundtable's chair, Guardian public services editor David Brindle, said one in five children is now on the receiving end of cyberbullying, and that the latest Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre report said there had been 19,000 reports of online sex exploitation in the year, with 3,000 reports on suspicious individuals, 192 suspects arrested, and action had been taken to protect 800 children.
But the internet is not only a cause of worries and problems in family life, as several participants in the roundtable were keen to point out. There were many educational and other benefits to being connected to the virtual world – and some of them were even about making young people's lives safer. Harker of the NSPCC, which runs Childline, said there had been "an enormous shift" among youngsters to seeking help online. "Children seem much more willing to open up online than on the phone," she said. "It's been a really positive step and it has meant they're seeking help more quickly and more effectively than in the past." Edouard Payne, a volunteer with YouthNet, agreed: he said many young people were able to get the help they needed through the internet.
The question of whether the internet has created changes in young people's behaviour was also discussed. Helen Goodman MP, shadow minister for culture, media and sport, said she believed it had. "I think behaviour itself is changing and I would like to see more research on that," she said. "What's different is the anonymity and the lack of feedback." Claire Perry said she felt the issue was the amplification the internet allowed. "Teenage boys will always seek out porn; children will always bully," she said.
David Miles, director of the Family Online Safety Institute, summed up what seemed to be the view of many around the table. ISP filtering products, he said, were a beginning, but it would be naive to think they could solve all the problems of the internet by themselves. Education also had its part to play, emphasised Strong, who said her firm's Switched On Families online interactive guide was designed to help parents ensure their children enjoyed positive experiences on their computers, tablets and mobile phones. Overall, the view of roundtable participants was that, where internet safety and families was concerned, this was the start of a long journey, and that the solutions to problems were likely to be multi rather than single factor.
For more information, visit theguardian.com/switchedonfamilies
Key discussion points
• Parents in the UK are worried about their children's safety online, but aren't sure what to do about it and aren't getting the leadership to help them
• It's important to remember that the internet brings huge opportunities to young people, as well as difficulties and dangers
• There's a need for education programmes for both children and – possibly more importantly – for the adults who care for them, both parents and teachers
• Family-friendly filters may or may not be useful, but they won't be the whole solution – although on the upside, they will start a helpful conversation about the issues around children and internet use
At the table
David Brindle Guardian public services editor
John Carr Member of the executive board, UK Council on Child Safety
Diane Duke Chief executive officer, Free Speech Coalition
Helen Goodman MP, Bishop Auckland, shadow minister for culture, media and sport
Lisa Harker Head of strategy, NSPCC
Jim Killock Executive director, Open Rights Group
Prof Sonia Livingstone Media and communications, London School of Economics and Political Science
David Miles Director, Europe, Middle East & Africa, Family Online Safety Institute
Edouard Payne Volunteer, YouthNet
Allen Scott Managing director UK and Ireland, F-Secure
Dana Strong Chief operating officer, Virgin Media
Claire Perry MP, Devizes
Vicki Shotbolt CEO and founder, the Parent Zone
Nick Pickles Director, Big Brother Watch
Credits
Roundtable report commissioned and controlled by the Guardian. Discussion hosted to a brief agreed with Virgin Media. Funded by Virgin Media. Contact Lucy Haire (lucy.haire@theguardian.com). For information on roundtables visit: theguardian.com/sponsored-content
