Twenty years old, and major since his first birthday! World Day for a Fearless Internet is blowing out its 20th birthday today, and the least we can say is that it is still as essential as ever. Even if the Internet of two decades ago has changed a lot. From the central PC often enthroned in the living room, and slowly connecting to the Internet and the Web, it has spread like wildfire throughout the house, in all our lives, at the speed of the cohort of smartphones, and of tablets, and applications, which populate our daily lives connected to the ubiquitous very high speed.
A danger for 56% of parents, but essential…
Safer Internet Day, an international experience, which takes place in more than 180 countries, is also (and above all?) an opportunity to take stock of the digital practices of the youngest among us. It is also a way of reminding parents of their role, not only as censors, but as guides and educators. Because the Internet is practiced like the rest of life, more intelligently and more securely when you are prepared for it, when you have benefited from a thoughtful educational effort, from a digital education, in a way.
However, this education should not be driven by fear or dread. Thus, an OpinionWay study, carried out for Internet Without Fear, “the national awareness program to support young people in better mastering their digital lives”, operated by the company Tralalere for ten years, indicates that 56% of parents think that the Internet is dangerous for their children.
A rather impressive figure which is all the more paradoxical since these same parents think that the Internet is beneficial to them, adults, on a daily basis, pointed out Axelle Desaint, director of Internet Sans Fear, and coordinator of the Safer Internet Dayduring an informal meeting.
So, “91% of parents believe that the Internet is an essential tool in their everyday life”she told us.
For more details, let’s turn to the study itself. She indicates that parents judge the Internet “informative” at 76%, “entertaining” at 63%, a qualifier tied with ” essential “ and finally, ” educative “ 51% for their own use.
✨Happy #SaferInternetDay! ✨
Let’s ensure that the voices of children and young people are heard on #SID2023 and all year through!
We have the power to promote positive changes “Together for a better internet”. pic.twitter.com/w3oDR9X84r
— Safer Internet Day (@safeinternetday) February 7, 2023
On the other hand, they are more reluctant to see it as something so positive for their children. If 60% conceive it as “entertaining” And ” educative “ for their children, choices which arrive at the top of the podium, 56% therefore think it dangerous. 18% will even put this choice in the first position of their answer. While 25% believe that the Internet is ” useless “ for their toddlers or teenagers…
Communication breakdown
Amusingly enough, “45% of parents [sondés, ndlr] retain a relative nostalgia for an idealized world before”, notes the study. This does not really help to put oneself in a good position to support minors in a digital world that is more inevitable than ever. Even if 93% of the adults questioned indicated having sensitized their children to the dangers of the Internet, while specifying to 63% that these same children “need to be supervised on the Internet”, when they are under 16 years old. The figure then drops to 37%.
It is time to note a second paradox: 86% of parents believe that their children respect the rules for using the Internet in place, while emphasizing at 39% that screens are a source of regular conflict. Worse, 56% of parents of Internet users aged 11 to 15 (they are 52% for 6 to 10 year olds) disapprove of certain digital activities of their children. This proves a lack of common ground to be found and a basic communication problem. And in fact 70% of 6-10 year olds would talk to their parents about their problem in digital life, against only 57% for 11-15 year olds.
A deterioration in communication that can be attributed (a little too quickly, perhaps) to the crisis of adolescence, but which can also be seen as the translation of the fact that parents are sometimes quite simply…overwhelmed. Thus, 64% of parents “recognize that their children teach them things on the Internet, whether it’s the latest trends and applications, or uses to master”.
Prevent and support
It is to deal with these dualities, these paradoxes, which make the Internet an essential but feared tool, that the day Safe Internet Day exist. To highlight the efforts of the various players in this complex ecosystem, and to help parents who are a little lost.
Thus, the site Internet without fear is a sum of knowledge, tools and guides to follow and make your own. Kits have even been prepared to allow families (or teachers) to discuss the subject, because, as often, everything starts with a discussion, an awareness of reality and roles, that of the children, that of the parents. A wide variety of topics are covered: fighting against cyberbullying, protecting against it, knowing what to do when it happens, but also recognizing false information, or controlling your digital life and the traces you leave online.
Mastering your digital life also means not letting yourself be caught up in the screens, and keeping control of them. Children or even teenagers may not be able to do this – it is hard to fight against multinational players whose ambition is to monopolize your attention time…
This is why Internet Without Fear joins forces with various players in the digital world. Whether it’s ISPs, of course, like Orange or Bouygues Telecom, or smartphone manufacturers. A joint effort is thus carried out with Samsung, while Apple has been a partner for two years now.
The iPhone and iPad maker, which offers a very successful parental control solution in iOS and iPadOS, also offers free training for worried parents as part of its Today at Apple sessions, which are accessible by free registration in its Apple Store.
Ultimately, this February 7 is an opportunity to take stock, to start anew, on the right foot, to discuss and learn so that the digital life of the whole family is safer, healthier, more balanced.
THE Safe Internet Day, it’s today, but Internet Sans Fear works hand in hand with national education to lead the educational effort, so don’t be surprised if your child tells you about it in the days and weeks to come. Because if the world day is good today, February 7, the event is extended to cover all school holiday zones. Your children’s future and digital well-being are worth it, right?
Internet Without Fear
