Safer Internet Day 2012 Connecting Generations Event

The theme for Safer Internet Day 2012 was Connecting Generations. To bring this theme to life, the UK

Safer Internet Centre hosted a multi-generational, multi-stakeholder event, bringing together children,

young people, their parents and grandparents, plus representatives from industry, government, law

enforcement, academia, charities and parenting groups.

In the morning of Safer Internet Day, a group of children, parents and grandparents met at the Department

for Education. Ministers Tim Loughton and Lynne Featherstone (co-chairs of the UK Council for Child

Internet Safety) opened the day, sharing their experiences as

Ministers and also as parents of tech-savvy kids. It was emphasised

how the internet provides fantastic opportunities for all users and

they clarified that it is important to listen to the ‘people at the front

line who are using the internet every day’ when thinking about what

can be done to ensure the internet is as safe as possible.

“The UK Safer Internet Centre believes that dialogue between children, young

people, parents and carers is fundamentally important to staying safe online.”

To begin these conversations and encourage cross-generational

dialogue, three focus groups were brought together on Safer Internet

Day. The groups of primary school children, secondary school pupils

and parents and grandparents, discussed a common list of questions

covering the different uses and needs of internet users of different

ages, the role they could each play in supporting other generations to

stay safe online, and how the internet could be used as a tool to bring

people together. They were joined in these discussions by guests from

Club Penguin, Lego, Moshi Monsters, Facebook, YouTube, Google,

Microsoft and Made for Mums.

“It is really important that these voices get raised at the

highest level, which is why this is a connecting

generations and connecting stakeholders discussion.”

The afternoon event in Parliament provided a platform for the focus groups to share their conclusions and

ideas with industry, government, law enforcement, academia, charities and

parenting groups. It was a lively discussion between the panel of 34 and an

audience of over a hundred representatives from organisations including

the BBC, the British Association for Adoption and Fostering, CEOP, the

Department for Education, Disney, Family and Parenting Institute,

Gransnet, Metropolitan Police, Mumsnet, NSPCC, O2, Ofcom, Race Online

2012, Research in Motion, TalkTalk, the Industry Trust, LEGO, the National

Deaf Children’s Society, The Who Cares? Trust and Trend Micro.

Ministers meet the focus groups

Alun Michael MP opens the event

- What do you need help with

online?

- Who do you think should/who does

support you online?

- How would you like to be

supported online?

- What top tips would you share with

children about how to stay safe

online?

- At what point do you interact with

others in your online journey?

- What top tips and for who do you

have for using the internet safely?

- How do you think different

generations can use the internet

together safely?

Findings from the Focus Groups

1. Primary Focus Group

Twelve children aged 8-11 years old took part in a number of activities to discuss their enjoyment of the

internet, who they use the internet with, and how they could stay safe online.

The group were highly enthusiastic about their use of the internet and in

sharing sites and services they enjoyed. They revealed that gaming and

watching videos online (both on YouTube and TV on demand services) were

the two most popular pursuits online. The children reported that they used a

wide range of devices to access the internet, including tablets and parents’

smartphones. All of the children said that they used a desktop/laptop computer to access the internet, with

half of the group also accessing the internet via a TV and three-quarters via a games console. Most young

people in the group said that they used the internet with friends and/or siblings. Although, eight out of the

twelve children said that they sometimes use the internet by

themselves.

The group said that they would like to receive help about

staying safe online from a range of people. Around three

quarters wanted help from their parents, almost all of the

children believed that their teacher should support them to stay

safe online, and ten out of the twelve wanted a friend’s

support. They also pointed out that they would like to watch

videos to learn about staying safe online.

While there were areas where the children said they wanted support, such as knowing which sites they are

allowed on and knowing whether something was spam, they

suggested they could also play a role in supporting other

generations to stay safe online. The children were very

knowledgeable about ways to stay safe online, and provided a

wide range of advice for both young people and adults. Their

advice included tips on creating a strong password, thinking

before clicking on adverts and hyperlinks, not revealing

personal information when chatting to strangers online, not

clicking on sites that do not look real or safe, knowing how to report on sites and they advised other young

people to tell a responsible adult if they encounter difficulties online.

2. Secondary Focus Group

This group brought together twelve young people aged 14 to 17, from Glasgow, Newport, Cornwall, Belfast,

Hull and the West Midlands, including two youth representatives from the National Deaf Children’s Society.

The discussion started by considering the services most used by teens, revealing Google, Facebook and

YouTube as the most popular services. The group explained how they were accessing the internet from a

range of devices, including laptops, mobile phones and the iPod Touch.

The group discussed how they play an important role in encouraging safe use of the internet among other

generations. One participant mentioned how he had helped his grandparent set up a Facebook account,

while another participant had helped their younger sibling with privacy settings. The group developed top

tips for younger generations and their key message was for children to be nice to people online – a tip

which they felt was true for all generations.

Despite their confidence in using the internet and their

firm grasp of safety messages, the group still turned to

others for advice and valued their support when facing

various issues. The teenagers said they turned to

friends, parents, teachers, siblings and ICT experts

when they needed help online. The issues that

concerned them included misunderstandings between

people online, hacking, bullying, difficulties in spotting

fake websites, viruses and receiving friend requests

from strangers. The group also explained how they

would like a better understanding of some of the

processes behind social networks. They spoke about how they would like to understand what happens

when you make a report and stated that “we just want a better understanding of what is shown to other

people and how to stop other people from seeing it.” The deaf participants also emphasised the

importance of having subtitling when services provide videos with advice.

As teenagers move towards independence they can sometimes find it difficult to negotiate rules with their

parents about internet use. There was an overall feeling in the focus group that parents could sometimes

be overcautious. Many spoke about how parental controls were put on their devices at home, but this

could mean that the teens were unable to access sites that weren’t considered inappropriate. Different

families often adopt different strategies to help themselves keep safe. One participant mentioned that his

parents asked him to tell them every time they received a new friend request, another stated how she left

her laptop at the bottom of the stairs every evening at her parents’ request to ensure she wasn’t on the

internet when she should be asleep. The group wanted the opportunity to discuss rules like these with their

parents and to be able to negotiate with them, explaining their needs and how the rules would work from

their perspective. There was a strong desire to be trusted to manage their online lives independently. The

group felt that if the media portrayed the internet and social networks in a more positive light, then it

would be easier to demonstrate to their parents how they can be trusted online, plus it would be easier to

encourage other generations to grasp the fantastic opportunities provided by the internet.

3. Parents and Grandparents Focus Group

Thirteen parents and grandparents from across the UK came together to

discuss their perspective on supporting children to stay safe online.

Discussion considered their own, and young people’s ‘digital footprints’.

The group discussed how they may differ from one another but also

suggested there may be some overlap. For example when it came to

using webcam services not many of the parents felt fully confident in

using them, with many describing themselves as a ‘digital students’.

However the majority of the group classified themselves as a ‘digital

experts’ when discussing services like shopping and emailing. Every member of the group felt that they

were experts in at least one aspect of the internet, which was incredibly positive.

The group also discussed the key issues and support that they felt different generations may face. Although

they perceived that younger users (infants and juniors) were hugely excited about using the internet and

internet technologies, they acknowledged that they didn’t always fully understand the full context of their

online actions and weren’t always equipped to make good choices, with one participant citing her son’s

accidental purchases generating a £370 bill from use of an app. They also referenced the pressure and

social exclusion that this age group often feel with regards to using social networking sites that their friends

and older siblings may be using. They felt however that younger users were able to ask for support from

parents, teachers and older siblings.

They felt that a key issue facing teenagers was often related to ‘banter’ going wrong and jokes getting out

of hand. They citied the potential of ‘escalation and amplification’ of a joke online, with real time posting

often giving little time for reflection or consideration of the consequences. They felt that teens could ask

for support from peers and siblings and use online tools, although their experience was that for emotional

issues, teens most often turned to their parents.

The issues for parents and grandparents were advertising, identity theft and security issues in addition to

the difference between their professional and private ‘faces’ and the need for knowing about privacy

settings. They highlighted a lack of awareness of the tools that are provided by services to support users.

They had primarily sought help through using search engines to point to information and ‘looking to the

next generation’ for help – their children. It was also suggested by the group that everyone knows an

‘internet champion’ or a ‘go to’ person who could help them.

The group felt that they had an important part to play

in supporting children online, including initiating and

having conversations about internet use and risks

online. The group considered whether they were

comfortable conversations to have and what if any

barriers they had come up against. The majority of

parents explained how the discussions often happened

in response to a situation that had arisen. There were

two parents who suggested they had put rules in place in advance of their child using the internet. These

were both parents of younger children and they had discussed things such as the ‘stranger danger’ rule

before their child was allowed to play on age-appropriate social networks. A large number of the parents

felt that they were comfortable engaging in these discussions as they felt that the conversations were the

same as the offline safety conversations they were having, it was just the platform that was different.

The key barriers that they faced stemmed from a lack of understanding of these new platforms. One parent

said that “once you lose eye of the trend you easily fall behind” and another mentioned how sometimes it

is “hard to enter the sphere of the youth”. It was emphasised how their own lack of awareness about the

tools available on services sometimes prevented them from helping their child. As one parent said, “for me

it really helped this afternoon just to have somebody face-to-face to tell me that they existed”. It was also

discussed that as with many elements of growing up, young people were often testing the boundaries and

learning through experience, so these conversations need to be reinforced regularly. Some parents

suggested that these discussions were easier if you have found a common interest online to spark these

conversations, so that they could encourage the young person to teach them. The parents were positive

about the role their children could play in supporting others to stay safe online, and it was suggested that

perhaps ‘teenagers are the glue’ as they are able to support all generations when it comes to using the

internet safely.