Smartphones have climbed up the Christmas wish list for many children, with some as young as primary school age requesting a device for easy access to social media, messaging apps and cameras.
A Vodafone study found phones to be at the top of the Christmas list for a third of children aged between 10 to 14 years old, with 55% of parents concerned about their online safety.
Hannah Oertel from Delay Smartphones believes this type of gift can cause "catastrophic harm". She tells us, "Children are going to do things their parents would rather they didn't do.
Teenagers are rebellious. As parents, we have the power and responsibility to protect our children and smartphones are causing catastrophic harm to kids, yet we give them the most addictive device ever created." One parent who has experienced the detrimental effects of smartphone use and is campaigning for stricter online safety rules to be in place for those under 16 is Esther Ghey, the mum of Brianna Ghey, who was tragically murdered aged 16 in a planned attack in a Cheshire park on 11 February, 2023.
Teenagers Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe, both 15 years old at the time, were sentenced to 22 years and 20 years respectively after they used their phones to plan the "horrifying" attack, in which Brianna was stabbed 28 times. When detectives seized the defendants' mobile phones and analysed them, they found "thousands of deleted text messages" exchanged between them, which proved they "had discussed their sadistic fantasies for months prior to the attack," Cheshire Police reported.
The messages showed there had been previous attempts to end Brianna's life. Jenkinson was also found to have had access to the so-called dark web, where she watched videos of torture and murder before Brianna's attack.
VIOLENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Research commissioned by Ofcom earlier this year found many children see violent content online while still in primary school, which was described as unavoidable. The research found that the types of content children were exposed to varied from dangerous pranks, stunts or challenges to mental health, suicide, self-harm, verbal discrimination, gaming, fighting and news reports.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1583506613/1733203283/articles/rmDxaGQk81733213976037/1107337037.jpg]
Speaking of accessibility to violence on social media for children, Esther tells us, "The whole world has got access to our children. We don't know who is influencing our kids, and that can come with all sorts of problems. It desensitises them and normalises it. And if they're looking at it constantly, it's almost like brainwashing." She asks, "Is that something that contributed to Brianna's death because of what Scarlett and Eddie were accessing online?" Hannah from Delay Smartphones also shares her thoughts on the impact of violence online on children. She says, "They see this stuff over and over again, so it really just becomes normal. We know that most of the time when kids see violent content online, it's unintentional. But with big tech, when they started these social media companies, it wasn't intentional to completely polarise the world and create so much havoc, it's just ended up going that way with the algorithms.
They've prioritised at all costs user engagement, which is what they want-they want eyes on screens, eyes on the app." Hannah continues, "It's very easy for the algorithm to learn what keeps people engaged.
We know that outrage, disgust, shock and horror will keep us absolutely glued with our focus, and because the algorithm has learnt that, that's what it shows." Sharing her own worrying example, she adds, "My daughter was at a choir rehearsal, and a boy showed her a video of a man getting his head cut off when she was 10, so I've been working hard to keep her protected from a lot of stuff, but you can't."
The Online Safety Act 2023 is a piece of legislation that has been brought in, which is aimed at safeguarding both children and adults on the internet. It imposes a variety of new responsibilities on social media firms and search services, holding them more accountable for the safety of their users while using their platforms.
Esther says, "It's a step in the right direction, and we should by no means give up on it, but it's such a mammoth task. I don't think it's something that only one organisation can deal with. It's a case of lots of different people needing to come together, such as the tech industry and social media companies. We need to look...
A Vodafone study found phones to be at the top of the Christmas list for a third of children aged between 10 to 14 years old, with 55% of parents concerned about their online safety.
Hannah Oertel from Delay Smartphones believes this type of gift can cause "catastrophic harm". She tells us, "Children are going to do things their parents would rather they didn't do.
Teenagers are rebellious. As parents, we have the power and responsibility to protect our children and smartphones are causing catastrophic harm to kids, yet we give them the most addictive device ever created." One parent who has experienced the detrimental effects of smartphone use and is campaigning for stricter online safety rules to be in place for those under 16 is Esther Ghey, the mum of Brianna Ghey, who was tragically murdered aged 16 in a planned attack in a Cheshire park on 11 February, 2023.
Teenagers Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe, both 15 years old at the time, were sentenced to 22 years and 20 years respectively after they used their phones to plan the "horrifying" attack, in which Brianna was stabbed 28 times. When detectives seized the defendants' mobile phones and analysed them, they found "thousands of deleted text messages" exchanged between them, which proved they "had discussed their sadistic fantasies for months prior to the attack," Cheshire Police reported.
The messages showed there had been previous attempts to end Brianna's life. Jenkinson was also found to have had access to the so-called dark web, where she watched videos of torture and murder before Brianna's attack.
VIOLENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Research commissioned by Ofcom earlier this year found many children see violent content online while still in primary school, which was described as unavoidable. The research found that the types of content children were exposed to varied from dangerous pranks, stunts or challenges to mental health, suicide, self-harm, verbal discrimination, gaming, fighting and news reports.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1583506613/1733203283/articles/rmDxaGQk81733213976037/1107337037.jpg]
Speaking of accessibility to violence on social media for children, Esther tells us, "The whole world has got access to our children. We don't know who is influencing our kids, and that can come with all sorts of problems. It desensitises them and normalises it. And if they're looking at it constantly, it's almost like brainwashing." She asks, "Is that something that contributed to Brianna's death because of what Scarlett and Eddie were accessing online?" Hannah from Delay Smartphones also shares her thoughts on the impact of violence online on children. She says, "They see this stuff over and over again, so it really just becomes normal. We know that most of the time when kids see violent content online, it's unintentional. But with big tech, when they started these social media companies, it wasn't intentional to completely polarise the world and create so much havoc, it's just ended up going that way with the algorithms.
They've prioritised at all costs user engagement, which is what they want-they want eyes on screens, eyes on the app." Hannah continues, "It's very easy for the algorithm to learn what keeps people engaged.
We know that outrage, disgust, shock and horror will keep us absolutely glued with our focus, and because the algorithm has learnt that, that's what it shows." Sharing her own worrying example, she adds, "My daughter was at a choir rehearsal, and a boy showed her a video of a man getting his head cut off when she was 10, so I've been working hard to keep her protected from a lot of stuff, but you can't."
The Online Safety Act 2023 is a piece of legislation that has been brought in, which is aimed at safeguarding both children and adults on the internet. It imposes a variety of new responsibilities on social media firms and search services, holding them more accountable for the safety of their users while using their platforms.
Esther says, "It's a step in the right direction, and we should by no means give up on it, but it's such a mammoth task. I don't think it's something that only one organisation can deal with. It's a case of lots of different people needing to come together, such as the tech industry and social media companies. We need to look...
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New UK (Digital) - 1 Issue, December 09, 2024