Information technology is now used in virtually every home in Australia. Ninety-seven per cent of households with children aged under 15 years have access to the internet, with an average number of seven devices per household. Ninety-nine per cent of young people aged 15–17 years are online, making this age group the highest users. They spend an average of 18 hours per week online (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2016). With this in mind there has been much speculation around safety and the use and misuse of devices in and around young people.
Recently, there has been much publicity around sexting and inappropriate photos taken by teens of themselves and others finding their way onto social media platforms. The number-one rule of the internet, whether you’re talking about photos or text, is: there is no such thing as “delete”. It only takes one second to screenshot what you can see on any device. And once an image has been propagated across multiple social media channels, it can be a tricky, expensive or sometimes impossible task to have those images suppressed or even removed.
Secondly, there are serious security issues around photos taken with smartphones and uploaded online, beyond just embarrassment or next-day regret. For instance, photos taken on smartphones often contain data, available to experienced investigators, which can show where and when the photo was taken. This can mean that with the right tools, a predator or troublemaker could potentially glean your suburb or your child’s school from a photo taken and uploaded to any media platform. Aside from this – certain types of photos and associated permissions or non-permissions can carry lifelong legal consequences.
Understanding smartphones, devices and their settings and shortcomings can be as important as understanding the platforms themselves.
While online safety is important for protecting children and young people from dangerous and inappropriate websites and materials, this does not mean that we should discourage children from using digital technology. The challenge is to help children and young people enjoy the benefits of going online while having the skills and knowledge to identify and avoid the risks, it is always valuable to maintain conversations such as these with young people in an open and honest environment.
Tim MacArthur (Head of Rice House)