To mark Safer Internet Day 2020, we thought it would be good to elicit the views of some of our young Internet users. We ran a focus group, made up of two children from each year group, and we are in the process of running a survey. The objective of both exercises was to understand how children use connected devices and apps, and their benefits and pitfalls.

The results are interesting, and we feel somewhat reassuring.

Please find below short comments (and some audio clips) from the focus group, to be followed by some results from the survey.

We started off by asking the group what (internet-connected) apps they use at home. Interestingly, although they did answer the question, they were immediately keen to point out some of the dangers and pitfalls. We think this is a good thing (even though no reference to Internet safety or problems had been made or alluded to!). They seem very aware of the problems posed by their online lives – interestingly there was considerable discussion on not having your name, school or house in view when producing videos.

One of the children suggested that they used the Internet for homework – specifically TTRS and Spelling Shed, and Sumdog. There was also some discussion about using Word and Powerpoint to prepare work at home. Most children are aware of the PEGI ratings when accessing games.

There was some discussion on social media. Again the discussion focused on what might go wrong with social media, rather than the possibilities and experiences of using it. This section focused on Whatsapp, TikTok and Roblox. It was reassuring to hear that there seems to be lots of parental engagement with these tools.

We looked specifically at what three things each individual likes about the Internet. Roblox, Minecraft, TikTok, Snapchat, Google were highlighted, and searching for ‘stuff’ on Google. Reference was made to what ‘we’ did before Google, with some hilarity at the idea of using a dictionary! There was some discussion about how the ‘For You’ pages work on TikTok and YouTube.

We then had further discussion on some of the worries or problems of the internet. All children claimed to have (at least by accident) come across content containing swearing and other things that they have (all) seen or heard. Clearly some found this funny, but there was also a general sense and awareness that this was inappropriate. Indeed the word ‘inappropriate’ was used many many times during the 45-minute discussion.

We had a brief chat about how long the children spend on the Internet each day (with some outrageous claims – ten hours!) and a comparison with time spent watching TV. On balance the time spent on each was about equal.

We discussed how school and teachers can help children use the Internet more safely and effectively. The children suggested that teachers could perhaps observe more closely what children are doing during class sessions. There was some acknowledgement that at school certain things (access to certain sites, games and so on) would not be permitted.

We finished by asking the children what their families could do to help them with their online lives. Many were aware of child-focused sites such as KidRex, KidsTube, and Family Link.

In conclusion, it should be noted with some satisfaction that these ten children were highly aware of the correct way to use the tools at their disposal. They clearly need support from all of us as all were aware of some of the content and dangers out there, but this group certainly had a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe.

On Internet Safety Day, we should all continue to be vigilant – please see our lists of resources (constantly updated), and monitor carefully the devices, sites and apps accessed by your children.