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It’s official - Censorship is no substitute for good parenting! #
We’ve argued that good and sensible parenting is key when it comes to children’s safe Internet use for quite some time but it seems a recent survey by The Parent Zone and the Oxford Internet Institute has now echoed our opinions. In their survey of 2000 14-17 year olds they found that restricting kids’ Internet usage through the use of parental controls is not as effective as good parenting and allowing them to self-regulate their own online usage.
22 October 2014
We’ve argued that good and sensible parenting is key when it comes to children’s safe Internet use for quite some time but it seems a recent survey by The Parent Zone and the Oxford Internet Institute has now echoed our opinions. In their survey of 2000 14-17 year olds they found that restricting kids’ Internet usage through the use of parental controls is not as effective as good parenting and allowing them to self-regulate their own online usage.
[caption id="attachment_85" align="alignleft" width="128"]
Darren Farnden, Head of Marketing[/caption]
Following ongoing pressure from the Government, most of the major residential focused ISPs now provide parental control options as standard to help parents regulate their children’s Internet usage, however these filters have their pitfalls. They have been known to accidentally block access to legitimate sites due to poor categorisation and errors and they are quite easy to circumvent using proxy websites or VPNs - something the child possibly has more knowledge of than the parent!
The report found that children with good parental relationships offline often behaved more sensibly online and the same was found where parents took a more supportive and educative approach to Internet usage rather than simply implementing the filters.
This is hardly surprising news to most of us and may even seem to be simple common sense but it’s good to see a report support this theory and realise that censorship and blocks are not the best approach - something the Government seems to be struggling with!
We have no doubt that these filters certainly have their place in the home, especially when guarding against more harmful online content and/or where younger children may need their usage monitoring, but they shouldn’t be solely relied upon.
We have repeatedly argued that the best way to protect children from accessing unsuitable material online is through the education of both the kids AND their parents to help everyone stay safe! It looks like this report fundamentally agrees with that view and will hopefully prompt the Government to do more to encourage education rather than simply enforce technological restrictions such as parental controls.
Have your say!
Do you agree that parenting is paramount or do you think parental controls are now a necessity? Do you offer parental control options with your services? Are you a parent and if so which approach do you support and undertake? Let us know your thoughts and share your experiences with us by leaving a comment below.
Related articles
Darren Farnden, Head of Marketing[/caption]
Following ongoing pressure from the Government, most of the major residential focused ISPs now provide parental control options as standard to help parents regulate their children’s Internet usage, however these filters have their pitfalls. They have been known to accidentally block access to legitimate sites due to poor categorisation and errors and they are quite easy to circumvent using proxy websites or VPNs - something the child possibly has more knowledge of than the parent!
The report found that children with good parental relationships offline often behaved more sensibly online and the same was found where parents took a more supportive and educative approach to Internet usage rather than simply implementing the filters.
This is hardly surprising news to most of us and may even seem to be simple common sense but it’s good to see a report support this theory and realise that censorship and blocks are not the best approach - something the Government seems to be struggling with!
We have no doubt that these filters certainly have their place in the home, especially when guarding against more harmful online content and/or where younger children may need their usage monitoring, but they shouldn’t be solely relied upon.
We have repeatedly argued that the best way to protect children from accessing unsuitable material online is through the education of both the kids AND their parents to help everyone stay safe! It looks like this report fundamentally agrees with that view and will hopefully prompt the Government to do more to encourage education rather than simply enforce technological restrictions such as parental controls.
Have your say!
Do you agree that parenting is paramount or do you think parental controls are now a necessity? Do you offer parental control options with your services? Are you a parent and if so which approach do you support and undertake? Let us know your thoughts and share your experiences with us by leaving a comment below.
Related articles
- Entanet Opinion: Keeping the Internet safe – What’s the best approach?
- Entanet Opinion: Who’s really responsible Mr Cameron?
- Entanet opinion: The A-Z of industry issues (part 2)
- Entanet Opinion: Knowledge is power – good or bad!
- BBBC.co.uk: Call for teens to self-regulate net use
- Saferinternet.org: Parental controls offered by your home internet provider
- PCPro: Those parental-control filters? As few as 4% are signing up
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