The internet is an extraordinary force for good but it is not designed with children in mind. Yet one third of internet users are under the age of 18 and the part it plays in their lives continues to grow: among 3-4 year olds, in the last year, time online increased from 6 hours 48 minutes to 8 hours 18 minutes a week, and 12-15 year olds now spend over 20 hours a week online.
Despite good progress made by government and industry together through the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) on issues such as parental control filters and age verification, much more needs to be done to create a supportive digital environment for children and young people. At the moment, children are not being equipped with adequate skills to negotiate their lives online. Offline, adults aim not just to ‘educate’ children as they grow up, but to help them develop resilience and the ability to interact critically with the world; recognising that without these ‘softer’ skills, they cannot grow up as agents of their own lives.
- : https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/publication/growing-up-digital/
- : The Children's Commissioner's Office
- : The Children's Commissioner's Office