A report from Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, found that children are often signing away their rights and data online without even realising – especially on social media websites, which she singled out for criticism because of their overly complex terms and conditions.
The report also highlights other dangers: almost a third of 15-year-olds admit to having sent a naked photo of themselves at least once, and over a third of 12 to 15-year-olds have seen hateful content directed at a particular group of people in the last year.
The report highlights that the number of children counselled by Childline about online bullying has also doubled over the last five years.
At the same time, children are spending more and more time on the web, with 12 to 15-year-olds now spending more than 20 hours a week online.
However, the Growing Up Digital report says many parents do not know how to prepare their children for the complexities of life online.
A survey conducted for the report by Mumsnet found that 73 per cent of parents are worried about their children accessing inappropriate material, while half are concerned about them oversharing personal information.
Ms Longfield is now calling for children to study digital citizenship from the age of 4 to 14 in school to prepare them for life in the digital world.
Responding to the report, Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said that PSHE would provide space for this.
He said: “As this report shows, the internet is an inescapable reality for children today. While it provides clear benefits, it can also pose serious dangers. Schools can play a vital role in protecting children in the digital world by teaching them about their rights and responsibilities online.
“PSHE would provide curriculum space for the discussion of a variety of important issues – not just online safety and digital understanding, but also some of the concerns that children might turn to the internet to learn about, like relationships and sexuality.”
Mr Hobby continued: “This is one of the reasons we have long called for PSHE education to be made compulsory. The government must back teachers by making PSHE a statutory part of the curriculum.”
A recommendation by the Education Select Committee to make PSHE a statutory national curriculum subject was rejected by former education Nicky Morgan last year on the grounds that most schools deliver PSHE and that problems with inconsistent delivery would not be solved by statutory status.
Ms Longfield said: “It is critical that children are educated better so that they can enjoy the opportunities provided by the internet while minimising the well-known risks. It is also vital that children understand what they agree to when joining social media platforms, that their privacy is better protected, and they can have content posted about them removed quickly should they wish to.”
- The Growing Up Digital report can be downloaded at http://bit.ly/2iin6jy
- “The time is now for statutory PSHE and SRE” – see SecEd's Editorial.