• English
  • Français
  • Español
  • العربية
  • Русский
  • 简体中文
Login/Logout | Register
United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Media and Literacy Clearinghouse UNAOC UNESCO
Media and Information Literacy Clearinghouse UNAOC

  • Home
  • About
  • Resources
  • Organizations
  • Events
  • Articles
  • University Network
  • Contact Us
  • UNAOC MIL
  • Submit
    • Submit a New Resource
    • Submit a New Organization
    • Submit a New Event

Children and the internet: a parent’s guide

November 4, 2013, Filed Under: Media & Information Literacy, Media Education Policy, Resources, Youth Media

Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
Source: The Guardian
Author: Viv Groskop
Link: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/03/internet-children-parents-safety

Article from The Guardian, UK (Saturday 2 November 2013)
Jamie Oliver has banned his children from social media – and in many families there is a constant battle between demands for privacy and safety. Here, parents share the lessons they have learned and the techniques they use.

You can’t blame Jamie Oliver for being worried. As the father of Poppy, 11, Daisy, 10, Petal, four, and Buddy, three, he really needs some long-term tech ground rules in his house. So he announced last week that he has banned his eldest daughters from using a mobile phone or any kind of social media. “I found out my two eldest girls had set up Instagram accounts in secret, which I wasn’t happy about and soon put a stop to,” he said. “Poppy is the only girl in her class without a mobile. It may sound harsh, but I do worry about the bullying that can go on with these sites.”

Oliver’s fears are certainly exacerbated by his celebrity status. But they are shared by many parents who, faced with mixed messages about the dangers and benefits of technology, choose simply to ban whatever they can for as long as they can. It doesn’t help that there is often a hypocritical element to all this for modern parents. Oliver announced the birth of both of his younger children to his 3.6 million Twitter followers. If we spend hours on Facebook and Pinterest – in full view of our children – how can we expect them not to go on Moshi Monsters, Club Penguin, Friv or Minecraft as soon as they can wield a mouse?

Sara Bran is from north London and writes on creativity and parenting. She has two daughters, Mia, seven, and Lily, 17. “I don’t think ‘the internet’ is taught well in school,” she said. “It is only mentioned to children in the context of safety and danger. It needs to be broken down into a) health issues – eyesight, sitting still for long periods of time, brain plasticity and creativity; b) intellectual issues about where information comes from and the ability to think independently; and c) social media and ideas about empathy, friendship, bullying, communication and relationships.”

She says that Lily worries a lot for her little sister and feels there has been a huge change in internet use and access in the last few years: “When Lily was seven, there was one central computer in our house that we all used. Now smartphones mean that all of us are in our own private worlds, having private relationships with the internet and social media. At 17, she doesn’t consider herself a digital native, but her younger sister at seven is completely immersed.”

Read more, follow the link.

Share this:

  • Share
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • WhatsApp
  • Google
  • Email
  • Print

 

← Mapping Digital Media: News and New Media in Central Africa. Challenges and Opportunities CfP Journalism Research & Education (JRE) Section 2014 →
Login/Logout | Register

Search the MIL Clearinghouse

ResourcesOrganizationsEvents
Search Resources
Topic
Language
Country
Search Organizations
Topic
Country
Search Events
Topic
Country

Search All

Upcoming Events

« June 2025 » loading...
M T W T F S S
26
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
1
2
3
4
5
6

Copyright © 2025 United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) | 730 Third Avenue, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10017

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.