What is E-Safety?
E-Safety covers a huge array of issues and as such is best expressed as a single question. How can we safeguard children in a digital world?
The internet is a fantastic resource that has revolutionised the way we teach and learn. "UK Children Go Online" was the largest survey of children's internet habits ever conducted in the UK. The report, published in April 2005, uncovered some interesting findings:
75% of 9-19 year olds have access to the internet at home 36% have more than one computer at home and 24% live in a household with broadband access 19% have internet access in their bedrooms
E-safety is not about restricting children, but rather educating children about the risks so they can feel confident and happy online.
"Swimming pools can be dangerous for children. To protect them, one can install locks, put up fences and deploy pool alarms. All of these measures are helpful, but by far the most important thing that one can do for one's children is teach them to swim."
What are the Risks?
Exposure to Harmful Content Includes
Pornography
Hate material (racial or otherwise)
Violent images
Gambling
Forceful commercial persuasion and scams
The "UK Children Go Online" study found that 57% of 9 to 19 year olds had seen pornography online. Most of this viewing was unintentional.
Protecting children from exposure to harmful material, such as pornography, is one of the biggest challenges of E-Safety. It is in this area that questions around technological solutions are often raised. Filtering software, which restricts access to certain sites is one idea - but us not always reliable and can cause complications.
Cyber Bullying
The prevalence of mobile phones amongst children means that a bully may contact their victim at any time, a terrifying prospect for a child. Emails may be sent anonymously and websites set up for the expressed purpose of humiliating a child. Picture and video messaging may also be used as tools for humiliation.
Grooming
The anonymity of the internet and the growth of newsgroups and chatrooms has meant that it is a perfect territory for predatory adults. As one Paedophile makes contact with another and or sees offensive material, the idea that what they are doing is bad dissolves and their actions become normalised.
Direct access to children can be obtained through chat rooms and paedophiles may present themselves as children online to build relationships of trust.
Whilst many children may show some awareness about 'stranger danger', it is not clear that they are applying this to their online activities. There is, for example, evidence to suggest that some make a distinction between 'strangers' and 'virtual friends'; people they have been in contact with for a sufficient period of time online, but have never met offline or in the real world.
Child Abuse Images
The webs of connections made on the internet between adults with a sexual interest in children have enabled the growth of an unprecedented market in 'child abuse images'. The huge scale of police investigations such as Operation Ore in which 7000 addresses were targeted in this country alone, demonstrates the magnitude of the problem and the changing shape of the child abuse image trade.
It is worth noting that whilst many still refer to these images as 'child pornography' it is better to call them 'abuse images'. This is for two reasons. Firstly there is evidence to suggest that paedophiles like the term 'child pornography' as it implies consent and a link with legal pornography. Secondly, and most importantly, the term 'abuse images' reminds people that every one of these images is an image of child being abused in the real world.
The UK has made significant inroads into the problem of online child pornography first with the establishment of the Internet Watch Foundation, an online abuse hotline and monitoring agency, and secondly with the establishment of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre in April of this year.
The recent research paper, "UK Children Go Online", conducted by the London School of Economics, concluded:
"the risks do not merit a moral panic and nor do they warrant seriously restricting children's internet use, because this would be to deny them the many benefits of the internet…However, the risks are nonetheless widespread, they are experienced by many children as worrying or problematic and they do warrant serious attention by government, educators, industry and parents".
What are we doing in Brent?
Brent's Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) is a multi-agency board attended by the most senior representatives of all agencies who work with children. The board has the overall statutory responsibility for safeguarding children in the borough. In May of this year, the LSCB established an E-Safety sub-committee.
The E-Safety sub-committee is responsible for the production and coordination of E-Safety strategies for all agencies involved with children, including public awareness and promotion of E Safety education programs in schools.
The committee includes people from
Children's Social Care,
The Metropolitan Police,
IT Security,
Education,
London Grid for Learning,
City Learning Centres
and Children's Partnerships.
Great steps have already been taken towards raising awareness of some of the risks posed by increased use of ICT. The E-Safety sub committee has already made big steps in the development of an e-safety awareness campaign in Brent. There is still a lot more to be done !
Firm links have been made with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) centre, (www.ceop.gov.uk) the national hub of all online protection activities.
CEOP have produced an education program for secondary children called Think U Know (www.thinkuknow.co.uk)
Members of the E-Safety sub-committee and representatives from the School Improvement Service and Brent City Learning Centres have been trained in delivering Think U Know.
Think U Know has been piloted with two groups of children, one at the Asian Women's Resource Centre and one Year 9 from Preston Manor High School. Both these pilots met with very positive response both from students and their teachers.
Following a presentation to Brent Headteachers, plans are afoot for teachers from all Brent secondary schools to be trained in Think U Know so that they can deliver it in their schools from January 2007.
Preston Manor City Learning Centre offers itself as a resource for schools' use when delivering Think U Know.
The E-Safety sub-committee alongside Preston Manor CLC has INSETs planned for teachers to help them get to grips with the many strands of E-Safety such as cyber bullying, social networking and grooming.
Learning sessions for parents and carers are also planned in schools and at the CLC to help them grasp the new technologies and what they can do to protect their children online.
In February the LSCB will be holding a conference about E-Safety for all agencies working with children in the borough.
For more information about E-Safety in general visit www.ceop.gov.uk
If you would like more information about Brent's E-Safety plans please contact Jonathan Baggaley at jonathan.baggaley@brent.gov.uk
