The United Nations (UN) and European Commission (EC) recently published a series of guidelines aimed at protecting children online from issues such as cyberbullying, sexual predators and unhealthy online spending habits. The online protection measures prescribe government-led enforcement, education and technical controls, filtering software and parental regulation.

“This is one of the more important things that our generation has to do to protect our children,” said International Telecommunications Union chief Hamadoun Toure.  With the UN General Assembly’s approval, Toure is hoping for homes in various countries to adopt the proposed measures.

According to recent surveys, 93 percent of children go online in the United States. Three out of four children are willing to share personal information in exchange for goods and services. And one in five children will be targeted by a sexual predator each year.

The guide’s approach advocates youth Internet safety as a collective responsibility shared between parents, educators, policy makers and the industry, while also emphasizing the need for the involvement and education of children themselves.

Under the slogan of being SMART, the guide provides children with a number of steps in keeping themselves safe including establishing boundaries for meeting online friends in person and telling someone if they should feel unsafe.

“For many children there’s a thin line or no line at all between the real world and the virtual world,” cautioned Nenita Larose, executive director of Child Helpline International, a network of telephone helplines for children in 160 countries.  Dieter Carstensen of Save the Children adds, “You have to make children understand that what they see is often not what it seems to be.”

The Child Online Protection guidelines would be reviewed and updated regularly to reflect developments in web interactivity, content and technology.  The UN and EC have also come together to mark Safer Internet Day, part of which includes a virtual exhibition which will host a number of pavilions.  One of the pavilions will be hosted by the ITU, which will detail the EC’s efforts to raise awareness about the risks children face online.

Sources:
http://www.unric.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22050&Itemid=40

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/un-unveils-child-online-protection-guide-20091008-gnhi.html

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