Approach to Content Filtering in the Home

The other day I was presenting an online safety session to a group of parents from a primary school. The session was good although the numbers in attendance was a little disappointing given the serious nature of the conversation, however the questions and discussion after the sessions was very worthwhile and interesting. One of the points that was discussed was the idea of content filters on home computers. Recently the past Liberal Federal Government had set aside around $60 million for the development and deployment of content filters to homes for parents to apply.

The problem with this solution is that:

• Most parents are unaware of the issue
• Most parents would not know how to manage and install the software
• Children could easily get around the software or
• Children could go somewhere else and access the internet without any filtering thereby defeating the purpose of the content filter
• Parents were placed under a false sense of security in that the filters were protecting their children, when in fact they could get around it if they really wanted or they could go elsewhere.
• This false sense of security also leads parents to letting their children have a computer in a bedroom rather than an open public space within the house. This is a major no-no, by having the computer in a public space means that children are more likely to be involved in appropriate activities rather than inappropriate activities. Being in a public environment also means that parents can engage in conversation with there children about what they are doing online - this is an important step.
• A system like this treats our children as if we can not trust them firstly - rather than building trust and respect.

The results of the program and uptake of the content filter system was extremely poor to say the least.

What would have been more appropriate would have been the development of a system that parents could put on their computers that would log all the websites and activities that their children undertake online - recording Chat, websites visited, software downloaded and used. If this record was protected by a password that only parents had then this would enable children the opportunity to act responsibly with trust with the knowledge that mum or dad could look at what has been going on. A system like this changes the dynamics for our children - we can talk and educate them about being responsible whilst still having the ability to check if that responsibility has been abused. And in the event of a cyberbullying problem there could be easy and simply was to identify where issue start and develop.

A model like this would have more chance of succeeding in our community and with widespread application would help build knowledge, skill and resilience in our children. Unfortunately most parents do not see this as a major issue yet and so either have no interest, knowledge or understanding of what is happening.

Just my thoughts following the discussion last week.