What they don’t tell you when you are pregnant with your first child is that when you welcome a child into your home and heart that along with fabulous fun, amazing memories and crayon on the wall behind the sofa, you also gain a bundle of “things” that you now have to be vigilant about. Alongside bumps and bruises, crossing the road safety and not touching anything hot, internet usage also presents dangers that many perhaps hadn’t considered before having children.
Don’t get me wrong, the internet is fabulous. I wouldn’t be able to do the work I do with it and Kieran especially (at 7 years old) uses it for homework research, learning and fun. Most of his friends also have access to the internet via tablets, the home PC , via Xbox Live or even their mobile phones.
The thing about the internet is that in order to stay safe online parents need to know more about their children’s usage, especially when it comes to social media access and how to teach them about safe usage and how they may monitor this effectively. Knowing the dangers that are out there is just the first step.
Knowthenet.org is an impartial website which has been funded by Nominet to offer information, advice and more to ensure that all of our kids can enjoy the benefits of having the World Wide Web available to them while staying safe, using the internet responsibly and of course legally.
Ass part of the Social Age Campaign Knowthenet.org interviewed over two thousand parents and their children across the UK. This social age study looked at the sites children were frequenting, what their internet habits really were and just how savvy these children ages eight to sixteen actually were about safe internet use.
This data, which was quite eye-opening, and more besides has gone into producing a number of resources which may be found on the website which supports parents in better understanding the issues and putting pro-active protections in place while still enabling their children to use the internet.
I sincerely believe that a child using the internet is a positive thing and opens doors which our generation didn’t have at the same age. Some parents who perhaps don’t spend as much time online as I do might find that their children know more about how it works than they do. Knowing the dangers and how to safeguard the kids couldn’t be more important in this digital age and so this campaign really is one which parents should have a look at.
Please do have a look at the KnowTheNet website and find them on both Facebook and Twitter.
