BBC website will help children navigate ‘pressures of life online’

CHILDREN must be allowed freedom to explore the internet, the BBC director-general will say today as he launches a new website to help those aged 9-12 navigate “the day-to-day pressures and dilemmas of life online”.

Own It will feature presenters and vloggers talking about issues including cyber-bullying, privacy and online safety. It aims to develop “confidence and resilience” in children when dealing with online dangers.

In a speech to the Children’s Global Media Summit in Manchester, Lord Hall will say it is “in everybody’s interest to maximise the amazing opportunities for children growing up in a fully connected world” while minimising the risks.

While children have the technological know-how to access websites and use social media, there is “no real evidence that their emotional development is any more advanced today than that of their grandparents. This gap makes young people vulnerable”, he will say.

Lord Hall will add: “Instead of thinking about how we might restrict children’s activities in the digital world, we need to focus on how we build a world that gives them freedom; that equips them with the skills they need to make the most of that freedom, and to express themselves in the digital world.”

Describing the new website, which goes live tomorrow, Lord Hall will say: “It’s aimed at 9-12s – that’s an age group particularly affected by the day-to-day pressures and dilemmas of life online. And it offers them guidance on what they say they want help with.

“It’s called Own It, because it’s there to help them take control of their online lives. We’re delivering it in partnership with a whole range of organisations in the field of child internet safety.”