A RECENT study in the United Kingdom has found that restricting children's activities on the Internet did not just reduce the risk of them finding pornography.

It also limited their exposure to learning opportunities and information online.

Findings like these shaped the thinking of the Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society (Aims) in calling for more resources to be poured into helping teachers, parents and children themselves deal with challenges posed by the Internet.

Short-term solutions like filters are helpful, the 13-member council noted.

But education is key to tackling the high-priority concern of protecting minors from such dangers as online sexual predators, addiction and cyberbullying.

To shape and spread such education, Aims feels a coordinating agency is needed. This should comprise public- and private-sector representatives.

One of its tasks would be to draw up an Internet safety strategy, to tackle online dangers holistically.

The agency should engage regularly with minors, parents and teachers, and even consider an advisory panel of digitally savvy youth, Aims said.

It would also administer a national fund for efforts to protect minors, which the Government and digital industry players should contribute to.

Aims also recommends that filtering services be promoted and sponsored, that more local research be carried out on ways to protect minors, and that groups here work with overseas partners facing similar issues.

It noted that community groups were already doing 'valuable' work in educating children on cyber safety.

But a well-funded national body would be able to fill any gaps that exist and look at serious challenges like cyberbullying from different angles, said Aims deputy chairman Tan Cheng Han yesterday.

Educators and parents said the proposals are timely.

Ms Esther Ng, founder of the Coalition Against Bullying for Children and Youths, said a dedicated agency will 'ensure long-term commitment to address constant changes and trends in Internet use and technology'.

The principal of Pasir Ris Primary School, Mr Justin Pierre, said one initiative the agency could support was the production of a public guide with Internet safety tips.

Students already learn about Internet safety from Primary One, and as they get older, they are taught about issues like copyright and addictions, he noted. But as many also go online at home, it was important for their parents to know what they are up to.

Housewife Haslinda Putri Harun, 36, agreed. She bars her daughters, aged five and eight, from going online without supervision, even though her older daughter gets e-mail from her teacher and engages in e-learning.

Welcoming the suggestion for filtering to be made more accessible, she said: 'I would be more comfortable knowing my daughter can't click on an objectionable site.'

Aims said that once such measures are in place, the current symbolic ban on 100 pornographic and extremist websites should be lifted.

Internet-savvy persons can already bypass the ban, which may also give parents a false sense of security in the face of many undesirable sites.

This story was first published in The Straits Times on 30 August 2008.

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