Post 'Byron Review'?
The Byron Report, Behind the Screen, and Grand Theft Childhood have all thrown their hats into the ring with research and recommendations for the safe use of technology by children; all agree that it is a complex area of research.
There isn't much to disagree with in the recommendations found in the Byron Report published on 27th March, and the government has agreed to move these recommendations forward. The establishment of a UK council on Child Internet Safety is a good move at a high level, but any action has to translate into improved parental awareness. This means educating families and parents so they know the risks.
Ensuring that video games etc. use a common classification system is a good idea. The Internet though does not have effective filtering for children, and child friendly search engines such as BBC SEARCH are under-used by schools and homes. Too many young children have un-hindered access to the world wide web from home, and too little parental restraint is exercised.
One important news item that slipped under the radar amongst the above reports is the agreement to good practice principles (PDF 78K) led by the Broadband Stakeholder Group Information Working Group, which has managed to get agreement from an influential group of signatories.
Of course, it could all be down to using mobile phones during pregnancy!