Many people have welcomed the move, whilst
others have expressed concern that it ‘smacks too much of Chinese-style
censorship’ believing that adults should be able to choose to access explicit
material.
What is clear is that a general consensus
is building that children do need protecting from online adult content. In the real world access to adult services –
such as gambling, alcohol or tobacco – requires a robust proof of age and the
same should be true in the virtual, online world.
A YouGov poll, commissioned for The Sun, found that, if the option were
available, 57% of people would choose to block pornography from their internet
connection.
The same survey revealed that 61% of parents
did not think their children had ever seen any inappropriate sexual content on
the internet, although 29% knew that their children had been exposed to such
material.
Sadly these figures do not tally with what
children themselves are saying. Research
carried out by the Safer Internet Centre found that, in the last year, 27% of
7-11s and 41% of 11-19s had seen ‘something unpleasant or hurtful’ on the
internet. We also know from other
research that almost one in eight children has visited a pornographic website
showing violent images and 27% of boys access pornography on a weekly basis.[1]
Clearly there is still a great need for
education for parents. Ofcom’s Media
Literacy Audit revealed that, despite growing broadband take-up and a range of
initiatives, there has been little improvement in UK adult or children’s levels of
knowledge over the past few years.
If you are a parent or grandparent
struggling to protect your children online – and the NSPCC tells us that the
average child now has access to five internet-enabled gadgets – you can find
sources of help and advice on our campaign website Safeonline.
You may also find the following helpful:
- Game On! BBC 1’s One Show included a very interesting segment on video gaming. If you have a child or grandchild who is a keen gamer you may be interested to watch the report here (the item on gaming begins approximately 3 minutes into the programme).
- Film Insight If you’ve always found the BBFC’s film classifications to be a somewhat blunt instrument when it comes to making choices about what to watch, you may be interested to hear about BBFCinsight. All films and games classified since 2007 have BBFCinsight which gives more detailed information for parents highlighting the key classification issues. Key issues are highlighted and expanded on to give examples of what you might expect to see or hear such as violence, bad language or sexual content. Helpfully, BBFCinsight also notes any other issues that might be important for parents, or those wishing to take younger viewers to see a film such as themes of divorce or bereavement or use of discriminatory language or behaviour
[1] Sources available at www.safeonline.org.uk
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