Building parents’ and carers’ confidence on-line

ENGLAND – Children’s minister Delyth Morgan has launched a new facility on myguide, a free and easy-to-use tool to help parents and carers catch up with their children when it comes to the internet.

myguide helps provide the next step in the government’s implementation of Dr Tanya Byron’s review of internet safety.

myguide can be used independently, with the support of a friend or family member, or with help from experts in one of the thousands of UK on-line centres based in libraries and community organisations.

myguide has now added an interactive guidance course and quiz to help families manage the risks while enjoying the benefits of the web. It includes many of the top parental concerns about the internet, from phishing and spam to on-line rogue traders and extremist websites, from chat rooms to music file-sharing, and from stealth marketing to safety filters.

The site stresses the importance of open family discussions and where to go for additional information and help.

Launching the new resource Ms Morgan said: “Today’s generation of children and young people are often much more computer savvy than their parents, something that can be of great concern as mums, dads and carers look to keep their children safe on-line without restricting their enthusiasm for and exploration of the internet. The free myguide service is designed specifically for people in this situation.

“The new Family Internet Safety guide will help people become more knowledgeable about the risks and how to manage them.

“It will be particularly useful for the many thousands of parents who will be participating in the Home Access programme when it is rolled out nationally from the end of the year.

“myguide will be an important part of the support for the programme to help parents make effective use of the Home Access computers and internet connectivity to support their children’s learning.”