Internet safety for children: Elza Dunkels at TEDxÖresund

Elza Dunkels talks about internet safety from children's point of view and how adults should observe before they give any tips.

Yes, I'm a teacher and a researcher
at the university as you heard,

and I'm interested in
online safety for children.

When I started out this research,

there wasn't very much
written about this area,

and the few things
I could find

were all from
an adult perspective,

and I was really interested in

what the children themselves

thought about online safety

and the dark sides of the internet.

So I didn't really
know what to do,

I wasn't funded
in any way,

so I turned to
my four children

and asked them
how they thought about this,

so they became
my first informants.

And three years ago,

I finally published my PhD thesis,

so you can look closely

because I am one
of the few women

who had an academic career,

not in spite to the fact
that she has many children

but even thanks to that fact.

In-your-face sexism.

(Laughter)

(Applause)

So, online safety
from a children's point of view.

A lot of these issues,

concern, so-called safe-view guides.

This isn't a very good microphone.

I hope you're not disturbed
by the sound, because I am.

Safe-use guides are lists,

where you compile tips and rules

for how children should
behave to keep safe online.

I have looked through
a lot of these safe-use guides

from a lot of countries
and they are very similar.

They might be copied
from each other,

or they might be copied
from the same first source.

I am not sure.

What I do know is that
there are pretty old.

In fact, I have traced
them back in time,

and the oldest I found
where I can be sure of the date

is from 1997.

Let's think for a few seconds

about how internet use
has changed since 1997.

Quite a lot, wouldn't you say?.

The kind of meeting
places we know today,

that require a login procedure

weren't there
for the normal user at least.

Instead we have
these open chat rooms

where you could choose
your random nickname

and go on chatting with people

and the thrill for most
people was in those days:

being at the same website
at the same time.

That's not really a thrill today,

It more like in the olden days

when the telephone was new

probably people would,

you know call someone
just dial the five and send,

"Hello, I hear
you have a phone too. Me too."

Today we require something else,

we need something
to bind us together.

But the rules are the same.

So how good can that be?

One of the first rules
that always appears is:

don't share.

Don't share personal
information on the internet.

Don't tell people
your real name.

Don't give out
your phone number.

Don't tell them
what city you live in.

Don't tell them
what school you go to.

Don't publish a photo
where you can actually see it's you.

How does that apply

to today's meeting
places on the internet?

Would you accept me
as your friend on Facebook

if I said, "Sorry,
I can't tell you who I am.

I have to be anonymous
to protect my safety.

Trust me, I want to be your friend
and you ought to be my friend."

You would probably decline.

Well, you could do that
for other reasons as well,

but if we take this as an example.

Rule number 2 is often:

remember that a lot of
people on the internet

are lying about
their true identity.

Well, duh!
They've listened to rule number 1

wouldn't you say?
(Laughter)

But these are actual rules,

that are disseminated among
children, parents and teachers.

2010!

There's also a fact that has
emerged the last couple of years.

We don't know for sure,

but there is a connection

between giving out
personal information

and online risks.

And among the online risks
that we are afraid of are harassment,

and sexual predators
seeking their victims online.

So there's no simple connection

between divulging
your personal information

and these risks.

We do however know,

that the greatest danger
you face if you're young today,

is having a troubled
life away from keyboard.

That's the most common
common denominator,

among the victims
that have been studied.

And that's not really a problem
we can solve with compiling lists.

That's more even
adult responsibility

to see to that every child
has the same chance

to feel good
about themselves.

Another thing
we have to remember,

is that most sexual
assaults against children

are happening in an environment
where the child should feel protected.

And the abuser is most often

someone the child
should be able to trust.

Parent, a step-parent,
a football coach, a teacher, etc.

That fact hasn't changed.

The internet has not
changed that fact.

Another common way
of trying to protect children

is creating black lists
and white lists

of websites that are good or bad.

This comes from
a tradition of media studies

where you are trying
to find out how media

changes people,

what happens when
they consume media?

But how about today's media,

when the content of the media
is user-generated?

How can we black list
or white list these places?

What happens if someone
writes something bad

in a white-listed website.

What happens
to that website and those tips?

It is a good thing
to think before you post.

Not only for young people,
that goes for any of us.

Because we have
to think about the fact

that what goes online stays online.

As far as we know today, that's a fact.

Most probably,
the things we post online,

will stay there forever.

So that could be a good tip.

But what more
important I think,

is to think about

how to react upon this fact.

We have to have
a relationship to eternity,

and we are not
very good at that.

We often try
to skip those questions.

If children ask us,

"When does the universe end?"

we are not very keen
on answering that question.

But we have to have a relationship
to eternity today.

As I remember it,

adults use to comfort
young people.

We use to say to teenagers,

"Don't worry,
not everyone is laughing at you.

Oh, you will fall
in love again,

your life isn't over."

But as soon as
the internet is involved,

we're the ones panicking.

"Oh but the future employer
will Google you!

Your life is over."

And that doesn't
make sense to me.

What we not need now,

is adults who feel like experts.

And most people who are adults

are actually experts
on problems that occur online.

We need to be experienced from life.

Well, everyone is.

We need to have
young people around us.

We need to look them
into the eyes

and see how they feel

and act upon that information.

And also,
we need to have a critical mind,

so that we don't swallow
everything that is presented to us.

As I see it, it's as simple
and as complicated as that.

Thanks for your attention.

(Applause)