It’s not just the kids who need advice
As a new TV series discusses how the rise of ‘stranger danger’ changed the way children played in the streets (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8399749.stm), a new ‘safety code’ for the internet launched today aims to protect youngsters from online threats. A code of conduct designed to ensure that sites such as Facebook and Myspace limit young users’ exposure to bad language, inappropriate advertising and antisocial behaviour, this national strategy urges children and their parents to Zip It, Block It and Flag It.
http://tinyurl.com/yjatfwo
Doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as easily as ‘stop, look, listen...’, but the advice is sound: don’t share personal information with strangers, block communications from people or companies you don’t know, and report any suspicious behaviour, individuals or sites.
For parents, protecting their children from online dangers is extremely tricky, largely because it’s an environment that many mums and dads simply don’t understand. They tell the kids which trees not to climb because they’ve had a few knee scabs in their time; they tell the teens to go easy on the Blue Wickeds because they’ve had one or two stinking hangovers themselves (believe it or not). But many of them aren’t involved in Web 2.0 in a way that allows them to really understand the online experience, with its benefits, banalities and threats.
Of course, it’s great to see more and more advice being given to parents – for instance, keep the family computer in a communal area, set security PINs and controls where possible. But it’s not enough to give them a ‘to-do’ list and ask them to tick the boxes. It might not be the most stimulating way to spend their time, but spending a few hours on Facebook and Bebo, getting to know how social networks operate – even just finding out what content is available at a click on iPlayer and other catch-up services – will be more enlightening and empowering to parents than catchphrases and checklists.
It’s about understanding the landscape. Until parents do that, how can they expect to advise their children how to navigate it? Not only should they Zip It, Block It and Flag It, but perhaps they should learn to live it too.