LONDON - On Thursday, the UK's Department for Children, Schools and Families published the findings of its Byron Review, a study into the means for helping children and young people make the most of the Internet and video games, while protecting them from harmful and inappropriate material. The Byron Review into Children and New Technology focused on the UK's families, but the fact is that the Internet is global and the report's findings are valid everywhere.
The independent Report, "Safer Children in a Digital World," is authored by Dr. Tanya Byron, a clinical psychologist and mother of two. In September 2007, Byron was asked by UK's Prime Minister Gordon Brown to lead an independent review into the consequences of children's interaction with new technology. As a result of these efforts, Dr. Byron has been able to set out a detailed analysis of the evidence of the risks and benefits of new technologies, examine this evidence against child and brain development theory and research, and provide a comprehensive evaluation of the work already being done to protect children when online or playing video games.
Byron concluded that while new technologies bring incredible opportunities to children and young people, parent's general lack of confidence and awareness is leaving children vulnerable to risks within their digital worlds. Many parents seem to believe that when their children are online it is similar to them watching television. But Byron was keen to emphasize that in fact it is more like opening the front door and letting children go outside to play, unsupervised. Digital world risks are similar to real world risks but can be enhanced by the anonymity and ubiquity that the online space brings.
"The Internet and video games are now very much a part of growing up and offer unprecedented opportunities to learn, develop and have fun," the psychologist said. "However, with new opportunities come potential risks...We live in an increasingly risk averse culture where we are limiting our children's out-of-home experiences because of fear of harm. However, risk taking is a developmental imperative of childhood - young people and children will always want to explore boundaries by taking risks, and they will sometimes play this out, at home, in the digital world with many parents unaware of this."
Byron asserted that parents need to overcome the generational "digital divide" where they do not feel equipped to help their children because they didn't grow up with sophisticated digital technologies themselves and therefore don't understand them - which leads to fear and a sense of helplessness. She believes that much of the anxiety associated with new technologies and their use by children can be reduced if there is more of a shared responsibility in managing their use.
"A useful way for us all to think about this is to look at how we protect children in places of benefit and risk in the real (offline) world: public swimming pools. Here there are safety signs and information; shallow as well as deep ends; swimming aids and lifeguards; doors, locks and alarms," comment Byron. "However children will sometimes take risks and jump into waters too deep for them or want to climb walls and get through locked doors - therefore we also teach them how to swim. We must adopt the same combination of approaches in order to enable our children and young people to navigate these exciting digital waters while supporting and empowering them to do so safely."
The Byron Review is quite comprehensive and offers information of use on both societal and individual levels. Copies of the Review can be downloaded from: www.dcsf.gov.uk/byronreview. Alongside the text of the Review, which has been published for adults, there is also a twenty-page booklet that has been created specifically to engage young people in the discussion of this important topic. In simple English the booklet lays out the benefits and the risks of the Internet and video games. It explains the means of reducing the risks and how youngsters can be empowered to use these new technologies safely. Parents are encouraged to download the booklet and discuss its content within their families.
