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What do children usually use the internet for?
Ha-ah, that’s a good question. There’s some research that came out in… well,
earlier this year by Sonia Livingstone at the London School of Economics and the most
popular thing for children to do on the internet was school work – really, it was. Yeah,
really. Now that was about 90 per cent of children said that was the thing they did most. Now
after that, research was saying it was games. And games was about, oh I don’t know,
about 80 per cent. And then it was social networking, and then it was video clips. So the
number one activity, according to research is school work.
I thought it was games.
You thought it was games? Well, games came in number two. I th.. I.. I was quite surprised
by it when I saw it. I know a lot of teachers have been quite surprised when they’ve seen
that figure.
Are there any resources and advice out there to keep children safe online?
There are some really good websites and materials for children. We have a website,
which we call KidSMART - kidsmart.org.uk, which has the rules for being smart online.
Using the internet, we want it to be a positive message, so it’s just about your own, making
good choices, being smart, keeping in control while you’re using technology.
What is your biggest safety concern?
Oh, another good, another good question. I mean it really depends. When I, when I’m
talking to children, when I talk to older children, they’re worried about their privacy,
people being able to see their pictures that they put online and that’s a big worry.
For younger children, I think their concerns are about being able to play the games that
they want as much as they want to. You know in many cases, er, in discussions with their
parents. So there’s a range of different issues. But there are the cyber-bullying issues,
which many young people are worried about – being on the receiving end of bullying
via technology. The grooming issue, even though it might not be a big concern, it is something
that we want to make sure that we try and inform children to be safe from.
What is your top tip for staying safe online?
It’s really about keeping in control. That’d be my top tip. You are in control of your
personal information as you’re using the internet, and as you’re in control of that
information, you’re in control of who can contact you. And my advice is to make sure
you stay in control. You think about what you’re doing, what you are posting, what
you are sharing, to try to make sure that you stay safe.