Parents can help create a safer environment for children and youngsters when they use their mobile phones and surf the Internet, says Nader Habib Many parents whose kids are outgrowing them when it comes to technology are worried that the hazards of the Internet could be greater than the benefits, with how to create a safer environment for their children when they use the new technologies being a daily concern. One parent who did not give his name said that he had installed a pre-paid Internet system, so that he could monitor the number of hours his sons used the Internet each month. The system allowed him to keep a tab on the cost of Internet surfing, as well as to monitor the sites being visited. "Of course this process is annoying, but what else can I do," he asked. In answer to concerns expressed by worried parents about children's Internet use, researchers have been trying to find solutions that will be directed at the problem while not putting parents to additional expense. Safe or family online services are already provided by some Internet service providers, in order to enable families to protect their younger members from falling into the trap of hazardous sites. However, these services were most effective in the past, when each family had only one or at most two computers and before the advent of Internet-enabled mobile phones. Such phones allow young people to be online any time, anywhere, and they can facilitate chatting and interaction between users whatever their age or social background. In order to take steps towards a safer Internet in Egypt and the Arab world, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology recently hosted a workshop to address the issue of online safety, gathering members of an international research project on children's use of mobiles and the Internet. These included representatives of Mobinil and GSMA, an association of mobile operators devoted to the standardising and promotion of the GSM mobile telephone system, which represents over 800 mobile operators across the world. The event was hosted by Minister of Information Technology Mohamed Salem and attended by members of civil society and the industry. In his speech opening the meeting, Salem said that the number of Internet and mobile-phone users in the Arab world had greatly increased. "In launching the safe Internet service in Egypt, we are acting as a result of the responsibility on our shoulders because of the great leap forward represented by the technological and information revolution. We believe that we will achieve great success," Salem said, applauding Arab efforts to protect families from the dangers of the Internet. Hoda Baraka, first deputy to the minister, said that Internet usage in the Arab region needed to be further studied if online safety was to be handled effectively. She pointed out that there was a need to share research in a regular way. "The field requires continuous work and not just seasonal interest, because it is an extremely active and changeable domain," she said. Mobinil Chairman Alex Shalabi highlighted his company's activities on the safer Internet project, adding that "Mobinil is committed to making the Internet safe for our growing youth population on the fixed ADSL network, as well as on the broadband access provided by the advanced 3G mobile network." Part of the project was an international research effort that aimed to study how children use mobile phones across the world, in order to arrive at a detailed picture of the societal effects of mobile phone use, discovering similarities and differences between markets at various stages of development. One interesting part of the workshop was a presentation by Natasha Jackson, head of content at GSMA, which outlined the results of the survey. "We surveyed 3,500 pairs of children and their parents in Paraguay, Egypt, India and Japan to find out how they use mobile phones," she said. The research showed that nearly 70 per cent of children aged 8-18 used mobile phones, and that they sent more text messages than made voice calls. At least a quarter of children sent six or more texts a day by the age of 10, and by 15 this number had more than doubled, Jackson explained. She added that 40 per cent of children aged 8- 18 accessed the Internet from their mobile phones, and in Japan four in five young people of 18 years old used the Internet on their phones. Fifty-six per cent of Japanese, 42 per cent of Indian and 41 per cent of Paraguayan children with smart phones used them as their primary device to access the Internet. In Egypt, 30 per cent of children used games consoles as their main portal to the Internet. The most worrying statistics showed that almost three-quarters of children who used their phones to access the Internet were using social-networking services, with 80 per cent limiting these to viewing their profile or viewing those of friends or friends-of-friends, and one in five having an open profile available for everyone to see. On the other side, almost 60 per cent of families have rules about their children's mobile phone use, with main parental concerns being about overuse, cost and privacy. The meeting's recommendations stressed the importance of creating links between education and protecting kids and young people on the Internet through merging protection into educational curricula. It was important to add concepts such as digital citizenship to the curriculum in order to make people aware of the concept of a technological community, speakers said, as well as adopting and supporting the Arab Gateway for a Safe Internet (http://www.amanak.org/Pages/ default.aspx). The recommendations also supported the Protecting Arab Youth on the Internet project, proposed by Egypt in Beirut in 2009. This also focussed on ensuring the cooperation of Arab governments in order to ensure children's protection when using the Internet. How to be safe online The following tips can help ensure safety when surfing the Internet: - Don't give out your name, address, or phone number to anyone online that you don't trust or don't know in person. - Never give out your bank account or credit card information unless you are shopping with a well-known or highly rated online business. - Never open e-mail attachments from strangers unless you have security settings on your computer. - Beware of spoof e-mail claiming to be from eBay, PayPal, or a bank or a company you know asking for personal or sensitive information (phishing). - If you decide to meet someone in person after speaking online, go to a public place and let friends and family know your plans. - Get a good anti-virus programme, spyware remover, and firewall. Monitor young children's activities closely and use parental controls when available. Tell preteens to write down the name of every website they go to. - Change passwords every month or so. - Keep an eye on your child's Facebook account.
