Public health - topics: Children and digital media

Internet awareness resources for nurses and parents

This was written for the RCN by Sangeet Bhullar, Founder of WISE KIDS.

The internet and digital technologies are changing at such a pace with new and exciting smart phones, tablet PCs and game consoles increasingly available, all with internet connections. There is also a convergence happening across these devices, so for example, game consoles don’t just offer you access to different games, but many incorporate services like web browsing, access to Facebook, BBC iPlayer, Chat and more. The growth in apps and cloud based services also means that more and more online content is readily available and shareable.

For many young people however, staying connected to friends, family and the wider world and using educational, gaming and social sites like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram is increasingly part of their growing up experience.  Indeed access to the internet is a positive and important part of many people’s lives, young and old, providing access to a world of learning, entertainment, socialising, business and more.

However the online world is not without its challenges and the issues range from cyberbullying, sexting and grooming to many other issues including e-security issues of fraud and identity theft. In addition, the popularity of mobile technology means that it is not as easy to monitor and keep an eye on what our children access. 

Additionally, young people may also be unaware that their actions online have real world consequences. For example, in 2009 a young lady was sent to a young offender’s institute for cyberbullying. Similarly, sexting - the practice of creating and distributing indecent images/videos of anyone under the age of 18 is a prosecutable offence. Yet we know that there are young people who may have created such media in trust with their boyfriend/ girlfriend then find these images misused when the relationship goes wrong. A piece of work by the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) also found that some young people face peer-pressure to create such content (NSPCC 2012).

As nurses and as parents, it is vital that we stay involved, and keep up to date with these technologies so we can develop a better understanding of the opportunities and the risks, and work out the best ways to deal with these changes. This will help us ensure that the children in our care have the knowledge and skills, as well as a sense of responsibility and emotional well-being to keep themselves safe online.

Access to chat services or social network sites is sometimes blamed for problems like online addiction, grooming and cyberbullying. It is important to remember however that whilst having access to some of these services can amplify some of the risks, particularly in vulnerable young people, it is the digital awareness, behaviour and sense of well-being that young people have that will ultimately ensure that they have the knowledge and resilience to keep themselves safe online.

So as nurses and parents, keep the following guidelines in mind. 

As parents we have always had to advise on ‘safe play’ and ‘stranger danger’ and set boundaries on what our children can and cannot do. These guidelines also need to evolve and be age-appropriate as children grow up and develop their own knowledge and resilience. It is no different in the digital age, so don’t be afraid to be the parent!

Reference

NSPCC (2012) A qualitative study of children, young people and 'sexting', London: NSPCC.

Web resources to promote positive and safe internet use

The following sections present some useful resources for parents and nurses to learn more about the internet and how they can promote responsible and safe use.

These resources were last accessed on 19 April 2013. Some of them are in PDF format - see how to access PDF files.

The resources are organised under the following headings:

General resources for parents

BBC WebWise site

BBC  WebWise: Share take care: Parent's guide to Blackberry Messenger  

Childnet: Know IT all for parents

Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Thinkuknow 
This includes a section specifically for parents and carers.

Common Sense Media
This is a US based organisation which provides good information for parents and educators young people, media and technology.

GetNetWise
This is an American public service website with many useful resources for parents including reviews of filtering software. 

Kommein: 29 Things we should teach our kids about using the internet
This is a post written on October 27 2011 by Deb Ng in her blog 'Kommein'. 

Microsoft Safety and Security Centre
Advice and tools for computer security generally as well as a section on family safety and protecting children.

Net Family News
An American 'community newspaper' edited by Anne Collier, founded in 1999. It is aimed at providing 'tech intelligence for parents' and discusses many aspects of youth and technology.

Ofcom: Parental controls - help your children manage their media
Includes guidance for parents on location based services, game consoles and more. 

UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) Advice on child internet safety 1.0. Universal guidelines for providers (PDF 242.2 KB).  

UK Safer Internet Centre
This website provides advice and resources to promote safe and responsible use of the internet and new technologies.

Vodafone: Digital Parenting
This Vodafone website includes digital parenting checklists for different age groups and a Digital parenting interactive magazine.

Resources on bullying and cyberbullying

BeatBullying
BeatBullying works with children and young people across the UK to stop bullying.

BullyingUK
The website provides: young people's advice; advice for parents; guidance for schools.

Childline: Bullying
Advice for children and young people on bullying and where to get further help.

CyberMentors
This website provides ways in which young people can help and support each other online. This includes support from young people who volunteer their time and are trained as CyberMentors.

Digizen: Cyberbullying guidance overview
This guidance produced by Childnet provides advice for employers of school staff, local authorities and governing bodies. Information is also available at Cyberbullying guidance.

Teachtoday - living with technology: What laws are there to help protect me from cyberbullying?
This page within the Teachtoday website for teachers outlines the legislation that can protect teaching staff from cyberbullying and is part of a larger section on cyberbullying.

Resources on other specific topics

Useful guides, resources and film clips covering e-security, music copyright, online chat, sexting, online reputation, online privacy, evaluating websites, location-based services, early years, special educational needs and video games.

AskAboutGames 
This website has been developed by the Association for UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE), a trade body for the UK’s wider interactive entertainment industry, which provides information to help parents make informed choices about ratings on online games.

Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre thinkuknow: Self taken images - 'sexting'
This page in the CEOP Thinuknow website provides advice about the sending or receiving of indecent images or texts including a film called 'Exposed'.

Childnet International
Childnet International provides a number of guides and resources on different aspects of safety:

Common Sense Media: GPS Tracking: should your teens use location services?
This describes how location services work and the pros and cons of using them.

Common Sense Media: Protecting personal privacy online
Advice for parents on how to help children manage their privacy.

East Midlands E-Safety Project
This project aims to improve e-safety for all learners with learning difficulties and disabilities. As well as producing training materials for staff it aims to involve learners in the production of support and guidance materials that they feel comfortable using. 

Facebook: Own your own space- a guide to Facebook Security
The guide explains how to protect accounts, avoid scammers, and how to configure advanced security settings. Other Facebook resources are:

Games Rating Authority (GRA)
This site provides information about the age rating process for video games.

GoogleChannelUK on YouTube: Staying clear of cyber tricks
 A video guide from Google on avoiding cyber tricks.  

Safe - The Certificate in Safe Social Networking
Free resources, lesson plans and support documents for schools.

South West Grid for Learning (SWGfL): Online safety services
The South West Grid for Learning is funded by 15 Local Authorities across the South West of England. This page describes the SWGfL initiatives and projects relating to online safety. This includes a Toolkit for early years settings.

Tagged
A resource developed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s Cybersmart program for students aged 14 and over which explores the themes of personal and peer safety and responsibility, positive online behaviours and digital reputation.

UK Safer Internet Centre: A Facebook checklist from the UK Safer Internet Centre (PDF 803KB)
Checklist and advice on some of the key privacy and security issues.

Vodafone: Digital parenting checklists
'Essentials' checklist and age appropriate checklist for parents.

WISE KIDS
Guides published by WISE KIDS an organisation which focuses on "promoting innovative, positive, and safe internet use" include: 

Where to access general family and young people support

Childline
Childline has a hotline that children can call for free (0800 1111) at any time.

Family Lives
Family Lives is a national charity providing help and support in all aspects of family life.

Headspace
An Australian National Youth Mental Heath Foundation website with lots of useful links.

MumsNet
This is a UK based social network for parents.

The Parent Zone
The Parent Zone has a resource hub providing how-to guides, FAQs and expert advice. These are organised as resources for parents, for schools, and for professionals. 

Young Minds 
A mental health charity for young people has resources for children and young people as well as for parents.

Where to report abuse

Action Fraud
Central point of contact for information about fraud and financially motivated internet crime.

Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre 
A UK based one stop police organisation to report child sex abuse, online and offline. The site has a report form.

Facebook: Report a violation
Information on how to report violations and the different circumstances under which reports might need to be made.

Internet Watch Foundation 
Provides a hotline in the UK for the public to report illegal content.

Out of Your Hands
This website has been developed by the Mobile Industry Crime Action Forum (MICAF), the Home Office and the National Mobile Phone Unit to educate young people aged 7 to 16 on the responsible way to own, operate and safeguard their mobile phone.

ParentPort: Make a complaint 
This section of the website guides users to the appropriate regulator for complaints about an advert, television or radio programme, film, newspaper, magazine, video game or other type of content that is thought to be unsuitable for children to see or hear.

True Vision 
A website which tackles all forms of online hate including crime based on race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and transgender identity.

Twitter: How to report violations
Describes categories of violation and what information is required.

UK Safer Internet Centre: Helpline
The Safer Internet Centre has been funded by the European Commission to provide a Helpline for professionals who work with children and young people in the UK specifically tackling the area of e-safety.

YouTube: Safety Centre
Guidance on a range of situations and types of content, and quick tips section.

Useful background information and reports for professionals

Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University (2012) Bullying in a networked era: a literature review
The document, published in September 2012, is guided by two questions: 'What is bullying?' and 'What can be done about bullying?' and focuses on the online and offline contexts in which bullying occurs. The report presents "an aggregation and summary of recent academic literature on youth bullying and seeks to make scholarly work on this important topic more broadly accessible to a concerned public audience, including parents, caregivers, educators, and practitioners".

Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University (2010) Risky behaviors and online safety: draft literature review
The review was published as a work in progress and begins with a discussions related to context and background.

Carrick-Davies and Associates (2011) Munch, Poke, Ping
This is a report which Stephen Carrick-Davies produced for the UK's Government's Training and Development Agency (TDA) in 2011. The focus of the research was to consider the risks which vulnerable young people, excluded from schools and being taught in Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), encounter online and through their mobile phones, and establish what advice, support and training might be required.

Children's Charities' Coalition on Internet Safety (2010) Briefing on the internet, e-commerce, children and young people
Published in Novermber 2010 this briefing is a consolidated version of the Coalition's responses to three consultations which in one way or another were relevant to the position of children and young people as internet users in the context of e-commerce. Updates to the original responses have also been made.

Demos: Truth, lies and the internet
This report examines the ability of young people in Britain to critically evaluate information they consume online.

Department for Education (2011) Letting children be children: Report of an independent review of the commercialisation and sexualisation of childhood
The review aimed to assess how children in this country are being pressured in this country and sets out some of the things that businesses and their regulators, as well as Government, can do to minimise the commercialisation and sexualisation of childhood.

Department for Education (2011) The protection of children online: a brief scoping study to identify vulnerable groups (PDF 283.7KB)
The Child Wellbeing Research Centre was commissioned by the Department for Education, working closely with the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS), to explore what is currently known about children’s vulnerability to harm from online activity or interactions. This scoping review explores levels of intended and unintended exposure to specific risks; the impact of harm suffered by children; and the characteristics of children who may be at highest risk.

European Commission: Safer Internet Forum (2011) Every European child digital safely - emerging challenges and youth engagement
A summary report and session reports from the Safer Internet Forum 2011. The summary report which is based on insights from the plenary and workshop sessions and aims at placing the debates in a wider context, giving an overview of recommendations made in this year's Forum.   

LSE Media and Communications: EU Kids Online
"This multi-national thematic network aims to stimulate and coordinate investigation into children's online uses, activities,risks and safety. It employs multiple methods to map European children's and parents' changing experience of the internet". This section of the LSE website links to reports, data and presentations from this initiative.

Nominet Trust (2012)The digital edge: using digital technology to support young people
"Digital technology offers new ways of addressing the challenges faced by young people by enabling new forms of collaboration; facilitating new communities of support and challenge, and affording new ways of accessing information and resources". This 'provocation paper' written for the Nominet Trust and published in June 2012, presents ten messages for exploring digital innovation with young people. 

NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) (2012) A qualitative study of children, young people and 'sexting'
The purpose of this small scale qualitative research for the NSPCC, prepared for the NSPCC by a number of educational organisations, was to respond to and enhance understandings of the complex nature of sexting and the role of mobile technologies within peer teen networks. The authors conducted focus group interviews with 35 young people years eight and ten in two inner city London schools. The report presents top messages from the evidence obtained through the study. 

Ofcom (2012) Children and parents media use and attitudes report (PDF 1.4MB)
Published in October 2012 this report provides detailed evidence of media use, attitudes and understanding among children and young people aged 5-15. It also provides indicative information about the access to, and use of, media among children aged 3-4.

Project Information Literacy "Smart Talks" no.5, January 3 2011
Project Information Literacy is a large-sclae study about early adults and their research habits. This is a discussion of some of the projects findings with Howard Rheingold who has written about the political, cultural and social impact of new technologies. See also Howard Rheingold's Net Smart. Living mindfully in cyberculture.

UKCCIS (UK Council for Child Internet Safety) (2008) The Byron reviews
In 2007 Professor Tanya Byron was invited by the then Government to review the risks that children face from the internet and videogames. The formation of UKCCIS was a key recommendation in this review. The 2008 report Safer children in a digital world and follow-up reports are available to download from this site.

University of California Irvine: Digital Media and Learning Conference 2010 closing keynote and closing remarks
This video includes the closing keynote presentation from Sonia Livingstone on 'Youthful Participation - what have we learned, what shall we ask next?'

Young Minds: Conference report  (2012) Dangers and opportunities of the internet
Report of a conference held on 20 November 2012.

YouthNet (2009) Life support: Young people's needs in a digital age
The report looks at how digital communications have impacted on the psychological and neurological behaviour of young people – and the challenge this poses for agencies and organisations who aim to support them.