Parents and education systems alike share anxiety about protecting children online.
A recent UK report that is the result of a six-month study by child psychologist Dr Tanya Byron tries to tread a delicate line between tighter regulation and better coordinated parental education. Obviously the education systems will have to match the duty of care that parents expect, and systems in place at home will need to be reflected in practice and policy at school. There is a summary of the report here.
Interestingly I have just reviewed a crime fiction novel, HARUM SCARUM, by West Australian author Felicity Young over on my “personal” blog. D.S. Stevie Hooper heads up the Cyber Predator Team, visiting schools to talk to children about internet safety, and trying to track down paedophiles who stalk unwitting children through internet chat rooms. One of the pictures that sticks with me from the book is that of the plump unpopular 11 year old whose mother has given her a laptop and ipod to compensate for the unfriendly treatment she gets from others at school. The mother works and the child is often on her own at home, left to her internet chat room and i-pod. I commented in the blog about how the novel raises issues that concern parents in the western world.
Sometimes the reaction to the dangers of internet safety is blanket prohibition but in the executive summary of her report Tanya Byron says “Children and young people need to be empowered to keep themselves safe – this isn’t just about a top-down approach. Children will be children – pushing boundaries and taking risks. At a public swimming pool we have gates, put up signs, have lifeguards and shallow ends, but we also teach children how to swim.”
Colleague KerryJ commented a couple of weeks ago on a local case that has generated a lot of discussion ever since the forced closure of the blog of a grade 3 class. Her blog posting was by-lined “time to open discussion”. Since then others such as Mike Seyfang, and Graham Wegner have commented too.
It will be interesting to see where this heightened awareness takes us.
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