Recently one of the local newspapers covered some troubling news pertaining to local school children sharing videos on the Internet and via mobile phones of themselves and peers performing sexual acts. I for one have heard of such videos and have refused to view them but I’ve seen many Youtube videos of local children in school fighting and so on. This not only reflects badly on them later but on their schools and unfortunately even our country. With regards to the younger kids, Symantec reported that ’sex’ and ‘porn’ were among the top 5 most searched terms by children in 2009. This proves even more that Children’s curiosity can often lead them into trouble especially online. So where do you as parents draw the line? How can you protect your child(ren) without pulling the plug and still allow them the opportunity to learn and to use the Internet? I will briefly answer these questions by explaining what children do online and the dangers they face as a consequence. Also, I will offer 5 tips that you can use to keep them safe on the Internet.

Several countries around the world are reporting rapidly increasing rates of Internet use by children, often exceeding 50% of the younger population. Judging by high Internet penetration rates within the Caribbean, I am led to assume we are not much different, however, definite figures are lacking due to the dearth of research in the area. Studies conducted elsewhere reveal that children tend to access the Internet mostly from at home, followed by school then from friends’ homes and libraries. I suspect though that Caribbean schools and libraries are not yet used as major Internet gateways but are getting to this level steadily. Children are known to use the Internet for exploring (for example conducting several general searches a day), learning new things (by conducting research), communicating (via email, chat, blogs), entertainment and even e-commerce (buying products and subscribing to services). They however use it mostly for chat followed by peer-to-peer file sharing, mobile communication and playing interactive games.

While above shows that the Internet is fundamentally a great tool for children, if not used carefully it may result in children being exposed to the inappropriate side of cyberspace. Dangers may include grooming by pedophiles, exposure to inappropriate content (pornography), illegal activity (copyright infringement), mis-information, online bullying (via chat, email, text messaging), gambling and exploitation of personal information. Research from the Cyberspace Research Unit (CRU; 2002) found that 53% of 8 to 11 year olds surveyed had conversations of a sexual nature in chat rooms. Additionally, Livingstone (2001) found that some parents paid no attention to what children do online. Therefore, it is quite evident that children are indeed in danger online and that parents have a crucial role to play. Below are a few tips you can use to actively ensure the safety of your child(ren) online.

• You should learn more about the Internet either through formal training, self-study or simply using the technology. PTAs can help by organising workshops conducted by professionals in the area of e-safety.
• Train teachers to teach Internet safety in the classroom as students’ use of the Internet for school has become a norm. Teaching e-safety may simply involve a 5-minute session about e-safety measures that should be taken when using the Internet for completing assignments.
• Lobby for educational institutions to enact ‘acceptable use policies’ that would promote safe use of the Internet on the premises and for these policies to be reviewed regularly.
• Filters can be applied to Internet access points to limit information by only allowing safe content through. However, there are some difficulties with this method as it is not reliable for detecting unsafe photos from safe ones and other types of harmful content. Therefore, it cannot be regarded as a solution in itself and should be used along with other measures shared here.
• Teach children how to be critical users of the medium and put in place reasonable boundaries for Internet use. You should always be aware of what your child(ren) is/are doing on the Internet and establish guidelines for safe use.

The Internet can be a great educational resource and a valuable tool for interacting with others but in addition to those things it can also be a dangerous place for children. Instead of pulling the plug on the invaluable resource you should protect your child(ren) by being aware of these issues and by educating them about the potential dangers.

There are many free online resources that can be utilised in this effort and by doing a search via google.com using the keyword ‘e-safety’ you can find some. Alternatively, I will be following up this post with regular instalments on e-safety for children in the Caribbean. If you have any tips or want to share something on the topic, I would be happy to address it, just let me know. Email renaldo@renaldobernard.com.