13 February 2008
Yesterday more than 50 countries took part in the fifth annual Safer Internet Day to educate children and parents about net dangers. Themed events revealed the risks of sharing too much personal data and warned children that their virtual friends may not be who they say they are. The Public events also encouraged parents to oversee their children's online life so they know who they are talking to.
Local authorities have also been running events to help educate parents. A spokeswoman for the Child Exploitation and Online Protection, who co-ordinated the UK's involvement, said its efforts were hoping to get schools to run assemblies that discussed the issue. Teaching materials for both younger and older children were also produced to help teachers prepare. The spokesperson commented:
It's about getting them talking about the issue, the personal information they put online and their social networking profiles,
In a global survey conducted by security firm Symantec, it was found that 75% of parents did not know what their children are doing online. In the UK, adults believed that 4% of children had been approached by a stranger. The actual percentage was 20%. UK organisations are banding together to create the Information Security Awareness Forum (ISAF) that will co-ordinate the broad array of work being done to educate consumers and companies about online security.
A short film has been produced for older children that spells out the potential dangers for teenagers of meeting the people they get talking to online. One of the most important points for children to realise, said the spokeswoman, was that the people they talk to might not be other youngsters.
UK organisations are banding together to create the Information Security Awareness Forum (ISAF) that will demonstrate the broad array of work being done to educate consumers and companies about online security.
Dr David King, chair of the ISAF, comments:
There are a lot of messages coming out from lots of different places but the question is who you listen to?
The organisation is planning to produce best practice guides for businesses and to run events that raise awareness about computer security.
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