SPECIAL REPORT: Guiding children through the online playground
The debate has long raged as to the suitability of mobile phones for children, with some parents expressing a concern as to the young age from which children are constantly attached to the handsets.
The proliferation of smartphones has introduced a new and much more insidious element into that debate. The rapid development of the technology means that, with one tap, the teenager has often unfettered access to all aspects of the internet.
EU Kids Online, which studies the internet activities of children in 25 European countries, recently published its National Perspectives research document. That found that 46% of Irish children go online using their phones. The European average is 31%.
The survey threw up a number of worrying trends about children’s online exposure, including that:
* 15% of 11-to-16-year-olds have received peer-to-peer “sexual messages or images” and 3% said they had sent or posted such messages;
* 14% of 9-to-16-year-olds have, in the past 12 months seen images online that are “obviously sexual — for example showing people naked or having sex”;
* 6% of 9-to-16-year-olds had been sent nasty or hurtful messages online and 3% had sent such messages to others;
* 21% of 11-to-16-year-olds had been exposed to one or more types of potentially harmful user-generated content — hate (12%), pro-anorexia (10%), self-harm (7%), drug taking (7%), and suicide (5%).
Obviously much of the exposures listed above may have been through a computer to which the child had access and was not necessarily through a smartphone.
However, the danger is that while parents are becoming more “internet aware” by being vigilant to what their child is accessing on the home computer they are not, in some cases, as savvy to the fact that all the same material is available on their child’s phone.
The old argument that “put the computer in the living room” just will not work anymore.
Children viewing pornography is obviously a major concern.
In October, a survey of 500 teachers in Britain by the Times Educational Supplement found three-quarters of the teachers believed easy access to hardcore pornography through mobile phones and the internet was “damaging” their pupils. A third of the respondents said they believed the majority of their pupils aged 16 and under “regularly” viewed hardcore images and as a result of that exposure, girls as young as 11 were dressing like “inflatable plastic dolls” while young boys were developing “almost pathological” attitudes to sex.
To that end, though, there are preventative measures that can be taken by parents. For example Vodafone provides an “access control system” which, it says, “filters out inappropriate internet content on the mobile for users registered as under 15 years old or under 18 years old with Vodafone.
“Therefore, if a user is registered as under 15 years old, whether pay-as-you-go or bill pay, the user will not be able to access websites classified by us as being for persons over the age of 15,” it said. “Content which is classified as being for persons over 18 years old will not be available to users registered as being under 18 years of age.”
The carrier said it also recommends to customers that parents or guardians bring their child into their stores in order to register the child as under 15 or under 18.
“If you register on our website, www.vodafone.ie, as being under age 18 (eg, you put your birth year as before 1994), then you are blocked from inappropriate content.”
However, the dangers of this are not just that a child will see an image that is of an adult nature.
Earlier this year, Donegal teenager Erin Gallagher took her own life — she was one of a number of girls who died allegedly following cyberbullying.
The 13-year-old’s grandfather pointed out that children could be reached by their alleged bullies at almost any time of the day.
“Nowadays it’s 24/7,” he said. “They can get you in the house, on the mobile phone, on laptops. To me, parents don’t look at that. They don’t know what their children are up to.”
Social media is now an integral part of a young person’s life and in many ways that is to be welcomed. Websites such as Facebook and Twitter are now to the fore in information-sharing and gathering, and familiarity with them is an integral part of many careers.
However, the very nature of the way that information is shared and communicated means that they can be used as a tool to bully and marginalise, with the victims unable to prevent the spread of the harmful material.
Smartphones are the portal of choice for viewing, interacting and posting on the social networking sites. Young people access them constantly to check what is happening with their favourite bands, teams or what gossip is emerging about their favourite celebrities. They also monitor slavishly any “status updates” by their friends, acquaintances and contemporaries.
So, if information, no matter how innocuous, emerges about themselves or their friends it can instantly be viewed and in some cases seized upon and twisted to reflect them in a bad light.
Furthermore, with body image becoming increasingly important, particularly to teenage girls, there is a very real risk that the phones are being used to look at sites which, while not raising the barriers on the phone which would be produced by pornography, can be potentially lethal to a child.
For example, if one does a quick Google search for the words “pro-anorexia”, the very first website that comes up is www.pro-anorexia.webs.com under which is written: “To be frank anorexia is a choice. People who tell you other wise are just bitter. How do I know because I chose anorexia I chose this lifestyle...” That website goes onto list “tips and tricks”, including “brush your teeth constantly so you won’t be tempted to eat afterwards” and “if you’re a smoker and hungry, light up a cigarette. It curbs your appetite”.
However, cutting off access to the internet is not the answer. The EU Kids Online report says a policy priority is to promote digital opportunities for young people and ensure they gain benefits from using the internet.
In relation to Ireland it says: “Another priority is supporting digital literacy initiatives that target both skills development and also encourage the broadening of online internet activities.
“Given the importance of the IT sector to Ireland’s economy, there is an urgent need to support digital opportunities for all.”
In a recent study at the National University of Ireland in Maynooth by Pádraig Cotter and Sinéad McGilloway of the department of psychology, 122 students recruited from two secondary schools in the South of the country were interviewed. The sample included boys and girls in the age groups 12-14 and 15-18. It found that 71% indicated that their parents did not try to control their use of the internet. Over 90% had a mobile phone; about the same percentage (90%) reported that their mobile phone use was “uncontrolled”.
“Many participants alluded to the minimal involvement of adults, as illustrated by the following comments: ‘Adults do not usually look at a child’s phone’; and ‘they [adults] don’t know your email password’,” the researchers found.
They also found that while proportionately more participants had heard of bullying by means of text messages (31%) and phonecalls (25%), a significant number were aware of it happening either by picture/video clip (17%) or email (12%).
The students were asked to assess the perceived impact of each type of cyberbullying (CB) compared to traditional bullying (TB), as well as the likelihood of adults noticing both.
“All forms of CB, other than email, were regarded by participants as worse than TB, particularly picture/video clip and phone-call bullying,” the researchers said. “There was the perceived difficulty of avoiding CB as indicated by the following response: ‘Because it would be like you couldn’t escape it, even when you’re at home.’
“Secondly, the potentially large audience who may witness the victimisation was a recurring source of concern, as illustrated by the following: ‘The pictures etc can be spread easily and quickly.’”
The comments of the students themselves were telling. One student remarked in the questionnaire that “I feel there is nothing can be done to prevent this”, while others reported that, no matter what is done to prevent CB, “it’s going to happen anyway”.
However, the researchers said the responses of several participants to the open-ended questions suggested quite a casual attitude toward cyberbullying.
For example, one participant commented: “Some people can’t take a fucking joke — get a life!”
“Other respondents negated the seriousness of the matter with comments such as ‘it will go away — it is a fad’, and ‘I don’t think it is a big deal personally’.
“Another student observed that ‘bullying is a natural cycle and cyberbullying is just another way to do this cycle’.”
Nonetheless, the study findings proved just how damaging the bullying can be.
“Most of the respondents indicated that the CB was short-term, lasting only one to two weeks. However, four reported that it had gone on for a period of six months up to several years. Six said they had not told anyone about it, even their parents.
The researchers said steps must be taken to tackle cyberbullying.
“As the situation regarding CB is likely to deteriorate because of rapid developments in information and communications technology, appropriate early and preventive intervention is essential,” they said.
“While considerable work has been undertaken to reduce and control traditional bullying behaviour in Irish schools, it may be necessary to incorporate some consideration of cyberbullying in future efforts.”
The single biggest thing you can do to keep you child safe online is to get involved with what they do online. This makes it easier to share both positive and negative experiences in the future.
With young children, be the one to introduce them to your smartphone or tablet.
With teens, you might reverse the roles and get them to show you what they do with the apps they like. Most important is to have an open communication channel so you can support them.
Do set ground rules, though. Agree with your child on how long they should spend looking at a screen and what types of sites and activities are OK.
If you haven’t done it already, I’d recommend agreeing a rule about where the mobile phone goes at night. Getting nasty text messages in the middle of the night is probably the biggest concern, but we regularly hear stories of children struggling to stay awake in class after spending the small hours tweeting from their beds. I have a charging station in the kitchen; this is where the phone sleeps.
