Research by Manchester University shows that almost 500,000 people in developing nations are earning a wage by making virtual goods in online games (known as gold-farming )to sell to players and the industry is increasing rapidly.
The industry (about 80% of which is based in China) is estimated to employ in 2008 400,000 people who earned an average of $145 (£77) per month creating a global market worth around $500m. Professor Richard Heeks, head of the development informatics group at Manchester University who wrote the report said that very accurate figures for the size of the gold farming sector were hard to estimate and that gold farming has become a significant economic sector in many developing countries.
"I initially became aware of gold farming through my own games-playing but assumed it was just a cottage industry. In a way that is still true. It's just that instead of a few dozen cottages, there turn out to be tens of thousands."
In many online games virtual cash is hard to gain and many people turn to suppliers such as gold farmers to obtain money to outfit their avatars/characters with better equipment, weapons etc. Some gold-farming operations also offer the service of "power levelling" in which a worker assumes control of a player's character and turn it into a high-powered (or "levelled") character far quicker than the original owner could manage themselves due to time constraints or knowledge.
In most online games the activities associated with gold farming - gathering in-game cash to items to sell, buying game gold or sharing accounts - are a violation of the terms and anyone caught engaging in these activities is likely to be banned from the game and have their account shut down.
For more information read the BBC report here
Anti-bullying charity Beatbullying has launched a new website for young people. The revamped website includes social networking, blogging, music uploading and video features. It enables young people of all ages to share thier own videos, photos and upload/download music created by other users, as well as blog about their thoughts on bullying. The new site follows a new adult and professionals' website, which was launched earlier in 2008, and was developed after consultation with hundreds of young people. The site includes information and tips on how young people can keep safe when using the site itself and the internet etc in general.
Sarah Dyer, director of new media from Beatbullying, said: "It is absolutely crucial to engage with young people using the sorts of web technology they like. Our new site enables young users to communicate, interact and support each other online...We know how hard it can be to get young people interested and involved in anti-bullying messages and activities, but by making our website appealing and interactive, we can give young people an opportunity to explore, discuss and tackle this important issue by themselves."
The Beatbullying site is also launching a scheme in Secondary Schools called "Cybermentors", they are aiming to create groups of young people in every Secondary School who are trained to help and support their peers in an online virtual community, as well as on mobiles and other devices. By 2011, all 3000 secondary schools in the UK will hopefully be fully running the programme, which means a minimum of 150,000 schools-based mentors and a further 20,000 further and higher education students will be working to keep cyberspace a safer place. This network of young mentors will be dealing with incidents of bullying off line and online and working alongside Beatbullying, whether incidents are at school, out in the community, on social networking sites, messaging services, mobile phones, virtual communities or any other online environment.
Beatbullying also has it's own channel on youtube which includes videos and links from Beatbullying as well as other agencies/users videos and useful sites for Primary and Secondary pupils.
The UK Youth Online Unconference is a free event for anyone with an interest in how technology impacts upon, or can be used in, work with under 18s. It will be an opportunity to discuss, demonstrate and explore what the latest online developments mean for work with young people. It will take place on Saturday 27th September, 10am till 5pm in London. The event is being run on a not-for-profit basis and participation is free.
The event will be based around four themes:
Online safety and opportunity - keeping young people safe online, and balancing safety with opportunity.
Youth participation online - getting young people involved in decision making through online tools and environments.
Promoting services and messages to young people - online marketing and communication with young people.
Projects: youth work 2.0 - looking at projects and approaches to work with young people that make use of online technologies.
For more information and registration details are available here
Nearly a quarter of children between the ages of 8 and 12 are dodging the
age restrictions imposed by social networking sites such as Facebook, Bebo and
MySpace. A recent poll suggests that from these results, more than 750,000
children could be illicitly using the sites potentially exposing them to risky
communications and situations. Facebook and Bebo set a minimum age limit of 13
for users to register online and Myspace sets the limit at 14. Most social
networking sites warn users that their membership will be deleted if they have
reason to believe they are under the minimum age limit.
The poll of 1,000 UK children, aged 8 to 15
as well as 1,030 UK
parents was commissioned by Garlik, which also said that parents are
responding by covertley logging on to their children's social networking sites.
One in four parents (25%) admits to secretly logging on to their child's social
networking page, while 72% try to protect their children by monitoring contacts
they make online. It also found that 26% of parents have set up their own
social networking page to monitor their children's online activities.
The poll also found that the children surveyed spend an
average of 1 hour a day on social networking sites. About a quarter of 8 to
15-year-olds admitted having strangers as friends on their social networking
page. One in five surveyed said they have met up with strangers they have only
ever encountered online. Two-thirds said they posted personal information on
their pages, including their school and their mobile phone number.
The research follows the Byron Report in March, which
warned that ignorance among adults about technology was leaving children vulnerable
to online abuse. The
Byron Report said: "Parents either underestimate or do not realise how
often children and young people come across potentially harmful and
inappropriate material on the internet and are often unsure about what they
would do about it."
A recent Ofcom
report into Social Networking suggested that 27% of 8 to 11 year olds claim
to have profile page on Social Networking sites.
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The poll of parents found 58% said they had become more diligent than a year
ago at monitoring their children's use of social networking sites, and 89% said
they had spoken to their children about the dangers involved.
A new "Kitemark for Child Safety Online has been launched with the Home Office and Ofcom to provide consumers - especially parents - reassurance that their children will not be subjected to undesirable web content."
Becta have played a key role in providing the technical expertise which underpins this new kitemark.
It's aimed at the home market, and any products badged under this quality assurance scheme will help parents to judge products which have been rigorously tested to a set of standards.
The aim of the Kitemark is to raise the standard of filtering, monitoring and blocking applications in the UK. It gives software developers the ability to demonstrate their products meet the highest available standards and provided users with confidence that it will offer some of the best protection for children.
The Kitemark has already been awareded to over 60 organisations/products.
For a list list of products and more information click here
Six of the UK's largest Internet Service Providers (ISPs), BT, Virgin, Orange, Tiscali, BSkyB and Carphone Warehouse, have agreed to join with the Music industry to try and tackle the growing issue of online piracy. The proposal from the government will begin with letters being sent to users suspected of using peer to peer file sharing programmes to illegally share music etc. The warning letters will be sent to thousands of homes across the UK where illegal downloading has been detected, alerting them to the fact they are being monitored. It may be the first time that parents or families know that they or their children are breaking the law. Hard-core users could be subject to measures such as slower connections, traffic management, filtering or marking legitimate content downloaded to identify them.
The ISPs have signed a Memorandum of Understanding drawn up by the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR). It covers consumers who both upload and download music. Previously the BPI has called for a "three-strikes" system which would remove internet connections for persistent pirates if three warnings went ignored. However, many ISP providers have resisted this and have said it is not their job to act as the law. Currently in France, users are disconnected for a year after a third offence. The Government has asked Ofcom to lead negotiations between ISPs and the film/music industries on how to sanction persistent and blatant offenders, if there is no agreement, legislation will be introduced.
Illegal downloaders can be detected by an enforcement team set up by the BPI, the music trade body. Its monitors log on to websites where music is shared, such as LimeWire, Bearshare and BitTorrent, and note the IP addresses users. This identifies a unique internet connection, but not the subscriber's name and address. This information is then passed on to the relevant internet provider, which links the information to an address and sends a warning letter. The BPI and copyright holders are not given culprits' names, which means that relatively small offenders will not immediately face the risk of civil penalties.
Geoff Taylor, chief executive of the BPI said: "All of the major ISPs in the UK now recognise they have a responsibility to deal with illegal file-sharers on their networks. The focus is on people sharing files illegally; there is not an acceptable level of file-sharing. Musicians need to be paid like everyone else. File-sharing (of copyright tracks without permission) is not anonymous, it is not secret, it is against the law."
About 6.5 million Britons are thought to have downloaded music illegally last year. It has been estimated that illegal downloads will cost the music industry alone £1 billion over the next five years. Breach of copyright, by copying music or film via the internet, is a civil offence. All the cases so far in the UK have been settled before court, with people paying an average of £2,000 to reach agreement. An survey of music ownership showed that MP3 players owned by teenagers and students contained on average 842 illegally copied songs.
Merlin John has recently written a article, published on the FutureLabs website considering how Primary Schools can use the internet as teaching tool whilst taking into account e-Safety considerations.
Merlin states how Primary Schools across the UK are "starting to try out secure, media-rich services that allow children to do everything that older students and adults are doing on sites like Flickr, YouTube and Facebook but without the concomitant risks"
The article contains case-studies from Primary schools using Web 2.0 technology such as Blogs, Social Networking etc to enhance learning in the classroom.
Are Primary schools in Kent following suit? We welcome any ideas and suggestions for sites you use in your classroom which you might consider to be a "Junior Safety Zone".
CEOP have managed to secure a conviction for the first person in UK to be arrested for money-laundering the proceeds of commercial distribution of child abuse images.
Andrian Benzin, a 29 year old Moldovan national who was living in London was arrested by CEOP officers on the 25th July 2006. Benzin was providing access to child abuse images on a ‘pay-per-view’ website which had 447 subscribers from 29 different countries, including 22 people from the UK (which included a scoutmaster, a teacher and two registered sex offenders). Users were able to send a monthly subscription charge of $89 per month into Benzin’s account, which enttitled them to unlimited access to 633 still and moving images of children suffering sex abuse.These sites originated in Russia and are now either blocked by the Internet Watch Foundation or have been removed.
Benzin is the first person to be convicted of laundering proceeds of the commercial distribution of child abuse images in the UK and has been sentenced to four years imprisonment. Benzin was convicted in his absence and will now be the subject of an international arrest warrant and ensuing extradition processes. Following his arrest, an order was issued against his various accounts and approximately £53,000 has now been frozen subject to a confistication hearing.
Jim Warnock, Head of Operations at CEOP said:
"Benzin’s conviction sends out a strong message to those seeking to profit from exploiting children. He enabled hundreds of people to view images of children with no regard for the horrific abuse which they suffered, seeking only to line his own pockets.This was a complex investigation by the Financial Investigation Team and colleagues from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) who worked with law enforcement partners through the Virtual Global Taskforce and countries throughout the world to bring Benzin to account.The CEOP Centre is grateful to the IWF, the Metropolitan Police Service and the banking industry for their support and assistance in this investigation"
Benzin is described as 5ft 8 inches tall with short, dark hair and a slim build. Any information on his whereabouts should be reported to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Read the full report from CEOP here
Children in Sweden are reportedly embarrassed and concerned about what their parents get up to on the Internet, according to a report from the Barnens Rätt i Samhället (Children's Rights in Society). BRIS reported a rise in complaints to 1,895 in the last year from children about their parents' behaviour. More than 100 of those children who made contact with BRIS did so because they were very worried about their parent's online behaviour. While it was less of an issue in children's lives than other concerns such as bullying, love and relationships etc the charity said that the problem is raising concerns in signifacnt numbers.
One 13-year-old girl stated that her mum was so engrossed in online gaming, specifically the game World of Warcraft, that she rarely spent any time with her:
"This summer she has been sitting up all day and all night and she forgets what's important to me. And when she's not at the computer she's like a lost soul. She just looks straight ahead and says nothing."Another teenage girl also reported that her mum spend time sat half-naked in front of the PC, posting photos of herself online.However, the most frequent worry raised by children was over their father's internet use, typically because they were viewing pornography or were flirting or conduct affairs.A 15 year-old boy stated:“It seems that my dad is 'unfaithful'.I read his MSN conversation log. I was just curious. And then I saw that he was talking to, like, young girls. And the disgusting part is that he's 53! And they talk about sex and how they're going to meet and everything. It makes me want to puke. It really makes me feel bad."
We predominantly focus on encouraging parents to keep an eye on their children’s internet habits and uses but it also be that the children feel they aren't the only ones who need Internet filtering software and guidance on staying safe. The BRIS Report (in Swedish!)
Yesterday, 24th June 2008, the Government published an action plan detailing how the recommendations from March 2008s Byron Review will be implemented. The report was published by Children’s Minister Kevin Brennan, Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker and Culture Minister Margaret Hodge.
The action plan outlines the Government’s proposals for appointing the Executive Board of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety. The Board will be chaired by DCSF and Home Office Ministers and will include representatives from industry, law enforcement other relevant agencies. It will be responsible for driving forward the Council’s agenda and meeting recommendations from the Byron Review.
The plan sets out actions and milestones which include:
• how the new UK Council for Child Internet Safety will be set up
• the development of a self regulatory approach by industry which will make the internet safer for children
• plans to raise awareness of e-safety issues among children, young people, parents and other adults through a public information and awareness campaign which will begin in summer 2008 as part of a £9m investment by Government in communications to the public about child safety;
• the role of schools and other services for children and families that can help equip and empower children and their parents to stay safe online.
• reforming the classification system for video games, including plans to launch a consultation to consider all necessary evidence around current and future video games classification
• how Government will work with industry to improve information and support to parents on video games
Full article from DCSF and press release
UK Online centres have launched a new website aimed at teaching parents online safety, myguide. You can find your nearest UK Online centre here. Currently there are no UK Online centres here in Kent, however that doesn't mean you can't register and you the material!
Myguide is a free taster course to give anyone worried about internet safety an introduction to some of the potential pitfalls and the best ways to avoid them. The course includes basic information on computer security, protecting personal data and helping children stay safe online. Each module lasts between 5 and 30 minutes and includes step-by-step guides, tutorials and even quizzes to test your knowledge. You do need to register for an account in order to login and complete all the modules but registration for Myguide is free.
Myguide is simple and intuitive to use - it doesn't matter if you've never even touched a computer before because with myguide you can start from the beginning and most basic steps - set up and email account, search for information and even learn how to use a keyboard and mouse. Each Module can be narrated and can be repeated if necessary.
Ofcom have undertaken an audit into childrens "Media Literacy" The report can be found here
Ofcom’s definition of media literacy, was developed after consultation with stakeholders was defined as ‘the ability to access, understand and create communications in a variety of contexts’. The report considered Media Literacy both at home and at school.
Some key findings:
Access:
Children’s bedrooms are increasingly becoming 'multi-media centres' children aged 12-15 have an average of six media devices in their bedrooms and children aged 8-11 have an average of four.
Around two-thirds of children tend to watch television, listen to the radio and use the internet in a room without an adult present. Solo users account for 16% of all children aged 8-15 watching television and 14% of all children aged 8-15 using the internet.
Understanding:
Children’s trust in television programmes differs by type of programme (43% of 8-11s and 47% of 12-15s). There are higher levels of trust for news and nature programmes (over 80% for all 8-15s) than for reality television programmes (under 50% for all 8-15s).
Children claim to trust online content (59% of 8-11s and 61% of 12-15s). Howeverless than one in ten children strongly agree that they believe most of what they see on the internet; this suggests that at some level children are evaluating the content they see online.
Nearly one in ten parents with children using more than one of the platforms have no rules for any of their child’s media use, just under a third of parents use a PIN or password control to restrict their child’s television viewing. More than half of all households with internet access have no blocking software or other controls over online access; households with 8-11 year olds is 50% and those with 12-15 year olds is 43%.
Create:
Social networking sites have significantly increased children’s desire and ability to create content online and over half of 12 – 15s who have the internet at home state that they have a social networking profile.
A recent news report from BBC News worldwide stated how a 49 year old woman, Lori Drew from Missouri USA, who set up a fake Myspace Profile to cyberbully a 13 year old girl who later committed suicide, is facing criminal charges. Drew has been indicted by a federal Grand Jury for Cyberbullying and faces 1 charge of conspiracy and 3 charges of accessing protected computers without authorisation to inflict emotional distress, each carrying a maximum 5-year prison term. Drew, her teenage daughter and a third woman who worked for the Drew family, reportedly created the profile of a 16 year old boy under the fictional name of "Josh Evans" in order to taunt Megan Meier. Ms Drew denies creating the profile on the social networking website and sending messages to Megan who hanged herself after “Josh” broke off the virtual relationship in October 2006. It is alleged that Megan killed herself after receiving several messages, including one purporting to be from “Josh” saying the world would be better off without her. "After approximately four weeks of flirtatious communications between Josh Evans and [Meier], Drew and her co-conspirators broke off the relationship," the U.S. Attorney for the District of California said. "Within an hour [Meier] hanged herself in her room. She died the next day." The Los Angeles federal prosecutor, Thomas O'Brien added that "Any adult who uses the internet or a social gathering website to bully or harass another person, particularly a young teenage girl, needs to realise that their actions can have serious consequences,"
Cyber-bullying is illegal in America in approximately 10 states, and others are now considering extending their laws to address this issue due to this incident.
This is a very sad and tragic case which goes to prove you really don’t know who you are talking to on the internet. If this is happening to you or someone you know please visit speak to someone, phone Childline (0800 1111) or visit Think U Know for more information.
An announcement by the Government (See here):
"Kevin Brennan and Vernon Coaker today announced the UK Council for Child Internet Safety will launch in September 2008, six months ahead of the recommended timescale set out by Dr Tanya Byron in her report ‘Safer Children in a Digital World’.
Stakeholders, including a mixture of children’s charities and industry will today be informed about how they can join the UK Council for Child Internet Safety, which will be responsible for developing and leading a Child Internet Safety Strategy and advising Government on e-safety.
On 27th March the Government accepted all of Dr Byron’s recommendations in full and today the Government is committing to a timescale outlining the next steps which are:
• Inviting stakeholders to join the Council – 14 May
• Cross Department Action Plan - end of June 2008
• Launch of the UK Council on Child Internet Safety – September 2008
• First Child Internet Safety Summit hosted by the Prime Minister - spring 2009.
Kevin Brennan Minister for Children and young people said:
“All children deserve to take advantage of opportunities new technologies bring but parents have told us that they want support from the Government to help make sure these opportunities are beneficial to their children’s development without causing harm.We are inviting experts within industry and children’s charities to come forward and provide their expertise and advice by joining the UK Council on Child Internet Safety. By developing an e-safety strategy together, we can help children to learn and play safe online whilst at the same time supporting parents to manage new pressures they face in a modern technological world. These next steps show our commitment to acting on Dr Byron’s recommendations with the same pace and strength that they were set out. By engaging across Government and industry we will provide a robust and coherent strategy within the outlined timeframe.”
Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said:
“The Home Secretary’s Task Force on Child Protection on the Internet has made fantastic progress in bringing together law enforcement agencies, children’s groups and the internet industry to ensure that the web is as safe as possible. The UK Council for Child Internet Safety will build on this progress and the recommendations made by Dr Tanya Bryon. The internet is a great tool which offers many opportunities and it’s up to all of us to work together to make sure young people get the most out of it and stay safe online.”
Culture Minister Margaret Hodge said:
“In a few short years the internet has become a huge part of our cultural lives, opening up a world of opportunity for young people to access culture, increase their knowledge or simply be entertained. The freedom the internet brings must be balanced by appropriate safeguards, and this key recommendation from Dr Byron's landmark report will help children and parents safely enjoy the wealth of benefits that the internet can offer.”
Do you think the Government's plan is sufficent? What do you think the Council should focus on with regards to internet and e-Safety?
Please post any views you have here!
Press Release from CEOP today:
"Hector's World is available at www.thinkuknow.co.uk/hectorsworld
Children as young as five years old are the focus of a new online safety programme being launched today, Thursday 8th May 2008, by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre.
OFCOM research indicates that 59% of 5-7 year olds access the internet at home and that 21% do so unsupervised. Now building on the success of the organisation's Thinkuknow education initiative, which has already reached over 1.7 million children and young people between the ages of 8-16 years, the UK's Centre for tackling the sexual abuse of children is now reaching out to parents of much younger children with vital 'safety first' advice.
Hector's WorldTM comprises five state-of-the-art, animated episodes. It takes children on a journey with Hector and his friends as they explore issues such as personal information, trustworthiness, making positive choices online and how to be open with a trusted adult when they use the internet.
The animation has been adapted for a young UK audience following successful running of the programme in New Zealand and is backed up by a series of free resources available to parents and teachers via the dedicated CEOP education website - thinkuknow.co.uk. All materials have been developed in consultation with Becta and with teachers.
Jim Gamble, Chief Executive of the CEOP Centre and holds the ACPO lead for child protection in the UK made the following statement
"We know that children are now using the internet at an increasingly young age. Recent research, coupled with feedback from our own youth panel and our work with parents, show that children are exploring the online world from as young as five years old. Teachers have asked us for this material because it is never too early to start giving children 'safety first' messages: in the same way that we teach small children to cross the road safely, there is a need to ensure that young children learn good habits for a future life online. If we give them early lessons in a way that is engaging, relevant and fun, we can help to safeguard young children online not only now but well into the future. We are delighted that working in partnership with New Zealand’s internet safety group, NetSafe, has enabled us to bring the inspirational and engaging characters from Hector’s WorldTM to UK children. We hope that every primary school in the UK will open its doors to Hector’s World for the benefit of all 5-7 year old students.”
Liz Butterfield is Managing Director of Hectors WorldTM – a charitable subsidiary of NetSafe concured by stating:
“Learning how to protect your personal information online is a fundamental skill for children today, especially considering the downward trend in the age children first access the internet. Hectors World offers the ‘building blocks’ of the skills and values children will need online”.
Niel McLean, Executive Director of Institutional Workforce and Development at Becta said:
“We face a careful balancing act when it comes to young people online – no matter what their age. We should definitely encourage their enthusiasm to embrace the opportunities the internet offers but we must also ensure that they explore and develop their skills in a safe way. CEOP’s Hector’s World programme is a welcome addition to the support and guidance surrounding e-safety that is currently available to parents, carers and teachers. It’s vital that the work to educate children about the benefits of technology continues with innovative and engaging schemes such as this."
The resources include lesson plans for teachers, Songsheets, Colouring pages, Posters, Puzzles and a downloadable "Hector's World Safety Button" that can be installed on computers for children to click on that covers the screen whilst the ask an adult for help if they experience something on the internet that makes them feel scared or worried. To access lesson plans and resources register on the Think U Know Teachers area.
A new teachers' website which delivers a strong lesson in e-safety has been launched: teachtodayThis website has been set up to help to support the many teachers that feel the need to address e-safety issues but worry that they do not know enough about new technologies or those who feel that there is not time to devote to the topic outside the National Curriculum.
It has been created to enable teachers to support pupils in using technology responsibly and safely and focuses on several major issues that face today’s young people: Cyberbullying, searching the internet, well-being and health and privacy and personal safety. It is organised into age brackets for ease of use and is aimed at those teaching pupils aged 4-10 and 11+.
The teachtoday website contains guides and information about new technology (such as 60 second guides for blogging, Video Communities, Wiki's etc) has lists of useful facts and figures to support teaching (e.g. that 55% of online teens have a social networking page), provides links to useful resources, has a "Jargon Buster" section to explain technical and commonly used terms, and a bank of lesson plans across a vast range of subjects and Key Stages. There is also a discussion forum which provides staff with the opportunity to interact with other staff, safety experts and the industry across Europe and to exchange information, practice and find responses to their own queries.
Fourteen leading companies involved within the industry, from mobile operators and social networking companies to internet and mobile content providers, worked closely with European Schoolnet to create the materials and consult with teachers during the site development. The participating companies currently are AOL, BEBO, Buongiorno, Deutsche Telekom /T-Mobile, Facebook, Google, GSMA Europe, Microsoft, MySpace, Orange, 02/Telefonica, Telecom Italia, Vodafone and Yahoo! Europe.
Teachtoday will continue to develop and grow, ensuring it keeps pace with technology and the issues it in turn raises. It is free to register for account, which enables you to receive updates, post on the discussion board, answer online polls, comment on resources/documents/articles and contribute to the development and progress of the site.
See you there
Due to the recent press attention and focus on e-Safety (See blog posts on New Home Office Proposals and The Byron Review) I'm seeking opinions to see if readers feel that enough is being done in Kent and indeed in Kent Schools to consider these important issues? What do readers perceive is in fact taking place in Kent around this topic and could anything be put in place to enhance or improve this?
Comments are welcome.
The Home Office has made today new recommendations to improve safety for children on the internet. The package of new guidelines was developed in consultation with children's charities and social networking websites.
It calls for Social Networking sites to display links to organisations such as CEOP, NSPCC, Samaritans and others so abuse can be reported or users can quickly get help. It also wants internet firms and police forces to share reports of potentially illegal and suspicious behaviour to co-ordinate approaches.
The Home Office wants to make it more difficult for people registered as over 18 to search for and contact users who are under 18. Sites are also being urged to set the default privacy settings of under-18s to private to prevent strangers from accessing personal details on their profile pages.
An important part of the guidelines is working to ensure children do not share too much personal information by educating them along with their parents, carers, teachers and those working with children. Parents will also be issued with an eight-point guide on how to ensure their children use sites safely. There are also plans for a kitemarking scheme for parental filtering software. Parents are being encouraged to talk to their children about the potential dangers of the internet and how on-line flirting or posting too much personal information could put them at risk.
Perhaps the most controversial idea in the new recommendations from the Home Office is plans for all registered sex offenders to supply the Police with their e-mail address. These details would then be shared with Social Networking sites to ban access to registered offenders. Offenders who do not comply or supply false email addresses would face up to 5 years in jail. This would be applied retrospectively for the estimated 30,000 registered offenders. The mirrors the scheme currently operating in the US which aims to prevent convicted offenders accessing the more popular sites such as Myspace. However this move is being argued as being difficult to enforce as a new email account can be created in only a few minutes. A Home Office spokesman has said that failure to declare any new email accounts would be considered a criminal offence, but the police would ultimately rely on members of the public to tell them of unlawful actions.
This new guidance comes after the recent Ofcom investigation and Byron Review. Ofcom interviewed 5,000 adults and 3,000 children and found nearly 47% of children aged between 8 and 17 had a profile on social networking sites. The Byron review found 41% of the children surveyed had their profile set so anyone, not just friends, could view it and that a third of those aged between 9 and 19 who used the internet weekly had received sexual comments via e-mail, instant message, chat or text message.
Opinions on these "recommendations" are welcome......
An article in today’s Daily Telegraph states that Social Networking sites will have to advertise the 999 emergency services number according to new government guidelines. It is hoped that this will encourage children to call the police directly to report abuse.
The Telegraph states they have obtained a copy of draft guidance due to be published on Friday by the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith.
A recent Ofcom report into Social Networking found that 27% of 8 to 11-year-olds claim to have a profile page on a social networking website, despite age restrictions aimed at preventing pre-teens from using them.Ofcom also found that although 65% of parents say they have set rules for their children on internet use, only 53% of children were aware of them. 41% of children and young people who use social networking sites leave their profiles on the default "open" setting.
It is believed that the Governements report will recommend parents to be issued with an eight-point guide to help them ensure their children use social networking sites safely and will be urged to discuss the dangers and risks of flirting and meeting strangers online.
A six month study which announces the first national strategy for child internet safety has been set out in a report for government today by Dr Tanya Byron named as "Safer Children in a Digital World"
The report argues that the government and the online and games industry must do more to provide comprehensive information to parents, young people and educators, develop an updated and consistent system for classifying computer games and develop clearer codes of practice for social networking sites.
Dr Byron states that the pace of the online revolution has left parents as "internet immigrants" and children as "internet natives" which often causes fears for parents who may be struggling to stay in touch with the ever expanding developments and trends in technology. According to the Byron report it has shown that parents are most worried by online predators but children are most concerned by cyberbullying.
The Byron Report proposes:
- A UK wide strategy to develop and deliver child internet safety across the country and support parents and educators in teaching children and supporting them to manage the risks and dangers of the digital world. This should be supported and implelmented in Schools by Government, Ofsted, Becta and the TDA.
- A national UK Council for Child Internet Safety to implement the strategy, with a fixed timetable for industry experts; a parents' panel and child development experts to implement recommendations.
- A standard benchmark for the video and online games; clearer/standard classification, improved parental controls and guidance on the advertisement of games.
- The creation of a website for parents to find out more information about online safety and how to implement control mechanisms such as filtering, pin codes and locks.
- New codes of practice to regulate social networking sites, Bebo, Facebook, Myspace, Youtube etc including clear guidelines and standards on privacy and harmful content, and for them to be reviewed by an independent body to ensure it’s being enforced.
- A new law based on a 2006 Law Commission recommendation making it unlawful to assist suicide on the internet.
- A comprehensive public information and awareness campaign on child internet safety to educate parents, young people, teachers etc to ensure they can get the most from technology without being overexposed to the risks and dangers
A recent report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) ahead of the impending Byron review, which will be offical released later today, has uncovering some interesting figures about how much time and access today’s youth has to the internet and technology.It states that "a generation of youth is being raised online"According to their findings many young people are spending in excess of 20 hours a week using popular sites such as bebo, Myspace and youtube ”. The research was conducted with young people aged between 13 and 18 from a variety of social-economic backgrounds via workshops and in-depth interviews.
The IPPR report recommends an increased involvement and responsibility on internet content by Ofcom, enforced if necessary by the government to protect young people from harmful internet content. It also recommends that popular sites should develop guidelines and limits for young people (also to be enforced by Ofcom) and should also commit to becoming members of the Internet Watch Foundation. The IPPR report will also propose that the DCFS should be given an overall control for “media literacy” and support parents in developing awareness, competency and key skills to help their children use the internet safely and manage risks accordingly.
Other findings in a report by Kay Withers called Behind the Screen: the Hidden Life of Youth (due to be published in April 2008) were that 80% (4 out of 5) of 5 – 15 year olds have access to the internet at home. 49% of 8 and 11 year olds, and 80% 12 to 15 year olds have their own mobile phone. Two in five (40%) of 8-11s and over two-thirds (71%) of 12-15s say they mostly use the internet on their own at home.Kay Withers stated that “The internet offers great benefits and opportunities for young people. But with kids spending an ever increasing amount of time online parents need to be reassured about what they are looking at. Government needs to improve media literacy programmes for kids and to make sure parents are aware of how they can support young people's positive online experiences. But more importantly internet companies need to take more responsibility for the content on their sites and promote acceptable behaviour.”
An article in The Times this week discusses the ideas raised at the annual Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) conference 2008, that teachers are becoming increasingly at risk of being victims of Cyberbullying..
A recent ALT poll found that 1 in 6 teachers had been victims of Cyberbullying by either pupils or parents. The increasing number of video phones in schools has been suggested as a possibly reason in this number. The same survey found that over half of those questioned (270 members) knew pupils who were being Cyberbullied.
The union is planning to debate a motion at its conference in Torquay that discusses the “risk posed to the privacy, safety and work-life balance of teachers by government proposals for pupils’ online access to teaching staff” and how staff and pupils can be protected.
A similar idea will also be debated at NASUWT’s annual conference.
The Swedish Media Council commissioned a report into MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) "Living in the world of Warcraft" in 2007 which was carried out by Jonas Linderoth, PhD, and Ulrika Bennerstedt, MA, of Gothenburg University. The report focused on the game World of Warcraft and 10 young people (aged 17-19) were spoken to about their experiences and involvement in the game and its impact/effects on their lives.
World of Warcraft is one of the more popular MMORPGs with around 9 million users, despite users needed to pay to subscribe to the game. The game has its own diverse lexicon and even has its own wiki to explain the complexities of the game.
The results of this report have now been translated into English and their findings make interesting reading.
One of the findings from the research highlighted the fact that users found the game needed considerable devotion and time to progress and "level" and this made the most significant impact on their lives with regards to relationships, education and even personal hygiene! However the game did provide opportunities to socialise and develop communication skills when regulated. However this can be difficult to enforce, although Blizzard (The game's developers) have taken steps towards this by adding Parental Controls to the game so parents can structure the time their children can play WOW online for.
A recent study from Tescos Computers for Schools has shown that girls may now be ahead of boys when it comes to technology and its use in today’s society. It was an independent study completed by Tickbox research on behalf of Tesco, and the total survey sample base was 1,024 UK parents with children aged 7-16.
Despite I.T. and gadgets being traditionally perceived as the territory of boys, the survey found that girls perform better on the computer, with a higher percentage of girls being able to perform key operations such as using search engines, creating and editing word documents, downloading files, creating social networking profiles and using and manipulating photography.
This recent UK research correlates with “Indeed”, a study published in December by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in the USA. It found that in a surveyed group of Web users ages 12 to 17, more girls than boys blog (35% of girls, 20% of boys) and create or work on their own Web pages (32 % of girls, 22 % of boys). Girls also surpass boys when it comes to creating profiles on social networking sites (70% of girls 15 to 17 had one, versus 57 % of boys). Video sharing was the only area in which boys outdid girls as boys were almost twice as likely as girls to post videos.
The increasing shift from Web 1.0 (downloading information) to Web 2.0 (uploading information) appears to have captured the imaginations of girls in a way previously not seen before. According to research from the Berkman Centre for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, it has been suggested that this may be because girls are encouraged to express themselves more and are using the internet as a tool for this. Boys seem to be more focused on using web 2.0 as a tool to share photos and videos possibly to “impress” peers rather than express their originality.
The UK survey also uncovered some other interesting figures:
- 73% of children surveyed are using a computer everyday
- 76% of those are using a computer up to 3 hours/day.
- 41% admit they couldn't live without the internet
- Nearly three quarters, 73% can use search engines and 62% can edit word documents by the age of 7
By their teens (16), children surveyed can confidently:
- Create a social networking profile, 70%
- Download music 59%
- Download photos 71%,
- Edit and manipulate photography 35%
- Make a film and upload it 22%
An important finding of the research in the UK that is worth thinking about was the fact that more than half (57%) of parents questioned said they relied on their children for advice on how to use their computer and the internet. Only 40% of parents considered themselves to be the most proficient computer user in their household. Compaired with the growth in ability of their children this could have an important impact on e-Safety and it's application in the home.
Kent County Council has been asked to circulate a survey which is aimed at schools to investigate their experiences and perceptions on social networking sites.
It was originally conducted by the SWGfL in the summer and Becta has asked that all authorities and RCBs (Regional Broadband Consortia) encourage schools to take part so that we can obtain a national picture. The SWGfL report is currently with CEOP as it may be useful to integrate with the forthcoming Home Office guidelines for Social Networking providers.
Below is the link to the survey.
http://www.swgfl.org.uk/surveys/segfl