A new safety campaign is being launched with respect to online activities for children. The campaign is to be known as the “Same Rules Apply Campaign” and launched today on World Safer Internet Day. The campaign highlights the need to approach parenting children online in the same way that parents approach parenting them offline. The internet safety charity CyberSafeKids and the National Parents Council have produced resources and guides to help parents be better informed of the potential hazards of internet use. A Digital Parenting event will be held online at 1 pm on Tuesday 28th February. Full details are available here.
A survey conducted by CyberSafeKids revealed that 22% of respondents say they had seen something online that they wouldn’t want their parents to know about. 30% of respondents say they can go online whenever they want. Some positive findings from the survey included: 43% said they were ‘not allowed to chat or game with strangers’. Over half (56%) said they were not allowed to add ‘friends they don’t know’ and almost a third (29%) said they were only ‘allowed online at certain times’. The CyberSafeKids charity is also calling for greater input from Education authorities as to the risks and for the providers of online services such as messaging, gaming and social media platforms to make protecting children a priority in how they operate their platforms.
