The instinct to protect one’s child is among the strongest a human being can have. Sometimes, the danger is clear – such as a fire or a speeding car. Other threats are more insidious, particularly online ones, not only because they are woven into our daily lives but because they also come with so many undeniable benefits.
It is a little more than 30 years since the internet was released into the public domain. Since then, a generation of digital natives has emerged not knowing life without the web. The effect on education, socialisation and mental well-being to name but a few has been so transformational that a new social science, digital anthropology, has emerged to try and make sense of it all.
However, such worthy attempts to understand how the internet is affecting us are still in their infancy. There is much we still don’t know about the effects – good and bad – that technology and the web are having on society, especially children. What we do know is that the web’s ubiquity has made it much easier for young people to be exposed to all kinds of toxic influences, from online pornography and graphic violence to cyberbullying and blackmail.
This week, the UAE authorities announced measures targeted at removing at least some of this toxicity from the web. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, said the country’s Digital Quality of Life Council worked with social media companies to shut down 160,000 websites and social media accounts for selling drugs and promoting other “unfavourable habits”.
It is right that governments take strong action to remove harmful sites and social media accounts. It often requires the pressure of legislation to encourage tech companies into more meaningful action to reduce the harm that can be caused by malicious content on their platforms. But the struggle to protect young people begins in homes and classrooms, and it is a major one.
Many child-focused organisations, such as Unicef, advise parents to have frank and informed conversations with their young ones about the potential dangers the lurk on the net. This requires adults to have a grasp of the technology that is at least on a par with their children’s knowledge – and young people today are probably the most tech-savvy in history.
Developing technology is part of the cause – untethering the internet from desktop PCs in favour of smartphones, which are in essence powerful pocket computers, has allowed malicious and exploitative figures direct access to young people in an unprecedented way. Many devices’ safety features can be circumvented by bright and experienced digital natives, and parental control software often offers a false sense of security. In fact, the sophistication of phishing and other forms of online scams is often more than enough to trick educated adults, a fact that emphasises the threat faced by children and even older teenagers who may think they are wise to it all.
Technology offers young people unparalleled benefits, such as wide access to human knowledge, the opportunity to learn remotely, and the means to channel their youthful creativity. It also gives parents a way to keep in touch with and supervise their children. But with such positives come some serious negatives – often it is not a case of if children are exposed to toxic material or threats, it is a case of when. Governments can only do so much; it is up to parents, teachers and other trusted adults to not only protect children but to have the digital literacy to understand the nature of the threats themselves.
WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
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Under 19 World Cup
Group A: India, Japan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka
Group B: Australia, England, Nigeria, West Indies
Group C: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Scotland, Zimbabwe
Group D: Afghanistan, Canada, South Africa, UAE
UAE fixtures
Saturday, January 18, v Canada
Wednesday, January 22, v Afghanistan
Saturday, January 25, v South Africa
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MATCH INFO
Red Star Belgrade v Tottenham Hotspur, midnight (Thursday), UAE
Manchester United's summer dealings
In
Victor Lindelof (Benfica) £30.7 million
Romelu Lukaku (Everton) £75 million
Nemanja Matic (Chelsea) £40 million
Out
Zlatan Ibrahimovic Released
Wayne Rooney (Everton) Free transfer
Adnan Januzaj (Real Sociedad) £9.8 million
HOW TO WATCH
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Which products are to be taxed?
To be taxed:
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
Products excluded from the ‘sweetened drink’ category would contain at least 75 per cent milk in a ready-to-drink form or as a milk substitute, baby formula, follow-up formula or baby food, beverages consumed for medicinal use and special dietary needs determined as per GCC Standardisation Organisation rules
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
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WandaVision
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany
Directed by: Matt Shakman
Rating: Four stars
