‘KIDS SHOULD SPEND MORE TIME ONLINE’
They’ll save us, says spymaster
PARENTS should get their kids to spend MORE time online rather than go outside, Britain’s former cyber spy chief claims.
Robert Hannigan, ex-head of digital spy agency GCHQ, hit back at suggestions that online time should be limited “like junk food”.
And he warned Britain will need a generation with well-honed cyber skills to “save the country”.
Mr Hannigan said the belief that time in front of a screen is “life wasted” was “driven by fear”.
And he claimed younger people understand the value of time spent online far better than their parents.
He said: “Parental guilt is driven by a failure to appreciate that life online and ‘real’ life are not separate.
“They are all part of the same experience. Millennials understand this – gaming and social media can be as sociable as mooching around the streets with friends was once.”
Mr Hannigan, who stepped down from GCHQ earlier this year, was replying in an article to calls from the Government’s top adviser on child protection for parents to restrict internet access in the school holidays.
Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner, attacked social media features that penalised kids for staying off messaging apps.
She said: “Children are in danger of seeing social media like sweeties, and their online time like junk food.
“None of us as parents would want our children to eat junk food all the time – we shouldn’t want them to do the same with their online time.” Mr Hannigan was rapped by Charly Harrison, who created an app encouraging friends to meet in real life.
She said: “Children are being sucked in and it’s causing problems with mental health.
“It’s about having balance.”
It’s driven by fear… life online and ‘real’ life are not separate ROBERT HANNIGAN FORMER BOSS OF GCHQ