Reflect
Yesterday was 'Safer Internet Day', an annual event which describes itself as ‘the UK’s biggest celebration of online safety’. This year’s theme is Too Good to Be True? Protecting Yourself and Others from Scams Online’.
The internet offers our children and teens endless opportunities for learning, exploration and creativity. It's a vast space which can help them to realise a range of human rights including social connection, education and play. Of course, it’s also important to bear in mind that they are prime targets for online scams, such as phishing emails, fake giveaways, social media fraud and misinformation. Scammers are manipulative. These tricksters will hold no qualms about exploiting urgency or trust to steal personal information or financial details, particularly from young people whose curiosity may make them quick to click.
Talk to most children about their online world and you’ll likely discover that they are savvier than we might assume. At Tooled Up, our own conversations with young people have revealed a fluent understanding of both what the digital world adds to their lives and the challenges that they might encounter online. Even fairly young children are capable of reeling off words like ‘doxing’, ‘phishing’, ‘hacking’, ‘scamming’ and ‘cat-fishing.’ Many already recognise the risks of scams and misinformation - but awareness alone isn’t enough. The theme of this year’s Safer Internet Day was created in consultation with young people after they highlighted a desire for support. They are looking to the adults around them, as well as to policy makers, for the guidance and safeguards that they need.
As Nicola Killean, the Children and Young People’s Commissioner for Scotland, notes, children really need to be at the heart of shaping change. “Children and young people have told me about their worries relating to the online environment, like advances in artificial intelligence, bullying, and seeing harmful content on social media. Children should be empowered so they have the tools and knowledge to access the online world as safely as possible… the digital environment can only be made safer for children by listening and acting on their experiences.”
Our children are growing up in a digital economy. Digital skills and experiences will be ever increasingly vital for their lives as they mature and enter adulthood, and the workplace. From a very early age, we need to play our part in equipping them with the skills to navigate the digital world confidently. This means teaching them to be discerning about the things they see and hear online, shoring them up ahead of using different digital technologies and platforms, developing their algorithmic literacy, and strengthening their resilience against those who seek to exploit them. Our budding digital detectives need enquiring minds, a passion for problem-solving, and a commitment to looking for evidence rather than making quick assumptions. They must also have a strong sense of justice and the confidence to trust their instincts; all things that we can actively nurture at home and school.
As parents, we can only focus on what we can control. We are unlikely to know what the next technological development will be, or which social media platform will become a big trend. However, we can take steps to furnish our children with the mindset, self-talk and digital values that will give them the best chance of warding off digital harms.
Motivate
Online safety certainly isn’t only about installing parental controls. We need to open up conversations with our children about the impact of digital technologies and what role we’d like them to have in our lives. We need to talk to them about potential rewards and risks, and have regular, exploratory chats about what they are doing and enjoy online. We should try to invite their opinions and thoughts, and encourage them to be philosophically inquisitive about the role of technology in all of our lives, and in their own sense of identity.
Charles Fadel, who is founder and chairman of the Center for Curriculum Redesign, and a global education thought leader, has written a very readable book tackling the thorny issue of Education for the Age of AI. In it, he notes that, “In the age of AI, it becomes even more key for young people to understand and assert their identities, ensuring they are not boxed in by algorithms”. My recent work with the brilliant Emma Leeson from SAPERE (Society for the Advancement of Philosophical Enquiry and Reflection in Education) has made me think deeply about the kinds of conversations we should be having around digital identity - conversations that can spark rich discussion and deeper thinking.
Developing a nuanced awareness of our public and private selves is vital if young people are to make decisions about what they share, say and do in response to ever-evolving technology. Emma suggests that important questions might include, Where do our real selves become our digital selves? Is it possible to have a private life? If so, what parts should remain private? Do we have full control and ownership of how our ‘self’ is constructed in the digital world? Is it ok to ‘share’ things we have done? Everything? Should we think before we share a funny story? A photograph? Why?
These topics might feel tricky. They are big concepts without easy responses. But as parents, our role isn’t to have all the answers; it’s to create space for thoughtful discussion. We can use stories and videos to frame our chats. Emma suggests that we could watch or read a story together and then focus on things that spark interest. For young children, she suggests #Goldilocks (a hashtag cautionary tale), for 7-11 year olds, try Alice Through The Smartphone: How Safe Is The Internet Wonderland?, and for teenagers of around 14+, the video Can I be your friend? might be thought-provoking. Recognising and exploring grey areas and attempting to become comfortable with not providing an immediate answer or solution will help to forge deeper connections and a better understanding of our children’s unique perspective on their digital lives.
These kinds of exploratory conversations will also help to reassure our children that when digital mistakes happen - and they will - we will respond with calm and guidance, not panic and punishment. They will understand that when they do fall short of family digital values, or get duped, tricked, hacked or mistreated online, there is a safety net, providing them with the softest of landings. In a world where technology evolves faster than we can predict, the best digital safeguard isn’t just a set of rules, it’s ongoing discourse. By staying curious, open and engaged with our children’s digital lives, we help them not just to avoid risks, but to thrive with confidence in an ever-changing online world.
Support
Equipping children with the skills to protect their online identities is vital. Just like us adults, young people don’t like to be exploited and they can find it exciting to look for ‘clues’ that might indicate potential risks.
In many families, there is a tension between parents’ desire to protect children and children’s desire to gain independence and cultivate a sense of personal identity. By emphasising the importance of being a digital detective, we can remind children that they are in control, and encourage them to have confidence in their good judgement and overall ability to problem solve.
If you'd like support, we recommend browsing through the resources available at London School of Economics’ Digital Futures for Children Centre, where you can find advice borne from up to date evidence from a wide range of researchers including former Tooled Up interviewees, Professor Sonia Livingstone, Dr Mariya Stoilova, and our brand new Researcher of the Month, Dr Kim Sylwander. Strive to parent, rather than police children’s use of digital technology and be authoritative rather than authoritarian. Allow them to enjoy ‘digital play’, educate them about their rights in the online world, talk to them about how they can protect their online identities (this short video is packed with great tips), and remain curious and interested in their digital engagement. What excites them online? What do they enjoy doing? Do they know how to seek support if things go wrong, or if they see something upsetting? Do they pause and ask questions before they click if something seems too good to be true?
Teach them to recognise red flags, such as messages asking for personal information, enticing offers, and requests for urgent action. Promote the use of multi-factor authentication (MFA) and strong, unique passwords for all online accounts. Instilling and modelling simple cybersecurity habits around keeping personal information private, running software updates and antivirus protection, and avoiding unsecured public WiFi without a VPN can make a significant difference when it comes to protecting our data.
Encourage critical thinking about all digital media. Educational technology is pervasive in children’s everyday lives. As Dr Kim Sylwander mentioned to me in an interview last week, these kinds of programmes present prime opportunities to discuss (either at school or home) what happens to our information when we sign in, where the data goes, who uses it, who owns it, and for how long is it stored. When it comes to AI, have exploratory conversations about how our information is used to build these powerful models. Where does the information go? Who owns it? Has it just disappeared? If systems are learning about us, and building a profile of us, how does this influence the kind of information and content that is then served to us? You don’t need to know all the answers, but getting children thinking about these questions is valuable. As Dr Sylwander pointed out, engaging critically with children on a host of issues from an early age is the starting point to discussions about their rights, about consent and about what happens when they enter a digital space. These are critical conversations to have.
When it comes to scams, no one is immune, not even adults. If your child falls for one, focus on problem-solving rather than blame. Ask, What happened? What did we learn? What can we do differently next time? Reassure them that they’re not alone and that even experts sometimes get tricked. The UK Safer Internet website has a wide range of tips for both adults and children.
Encourage them to fact-check information using reliable sources before believing or sharing it (Common Sense Media has a good list of fact-checking tools). Chat about what they might do if a peer was spreading misinformation, or if a pal was about to click on something suspicious. Both schools and parents might be interested in the Bad News Game (an interactive choice-based game about misinformation) which has been shown to improve players’ ability to spot and resist fake news.
Encourage them to assert their own beliefs and values - those values that you have steeped them in within family life - and to recognise when data-driven algorithms might be manipulating them. Can they push back against algorithmic bias and circumvent their influence? For an excellent set of guides and activities designed to get young people (aged 13-25) thinking about these issues, we’d advise checking out the Center for Humane Technology’s Youth Toolkit. To learn more, you can also take a look at The Algorithm and Data Literacy Project’s website, which contains discussion guides, definitions and videos or take a look at this report on life in the age of algorithms. Secondary school staff should also look at Common Sense Media’s fantastic lesson plans on AI literacy which help to address AI's social and ethical impacts, consider potential benefits and risks, and nudge young people to think critically about how we can all be responsible users.
The ability to question sources, think critically, and assert personal boundaries online mirrors essential skills that our children will need in daily life, whether in friendships, school, or future workplaces. If children and young people can navigate their digital lives with discernment and self-assurance, it doesn't just guard against scams, it gives them the foundations to succeed in a complex world.
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Hear more from Dr Kim Sylwander, February's researcher of the month, in our interview on the efficacy of digital age limits, and how we might know when our children are ready for smartphones or social media. You can also tune into interviews with her colleagues, Professor Sonia Livingstone (on how children engage with the digital world), Dr Miriam Rahali (on sponsored advertising) and Dr Mariya Stoilova (on parental controls). All are accompanied by written notes. To zoom in on the evidence around teen mental health and social media, check out our webinar with Dr Margarita Panayiotou. Tooled Up founder, Dr Kathy Weston, has also presented on bringing up boys and girls in the digital age, and on raising digital detectives. All webinars include links to a wide range of relevant Tooled Up resources.
For more thoughts on talking openly with children and young people about complex ideas relating to the digital world and social media, have a look at our latest resource from Emma Leeson at SAPERE.
Educators might also be interested in our Digital Detectives classroom activity for 11-13 year olds. Download the lesson pack here, and accompanying notes here.