The University of Canberra (UC) has received a grant from the Australian eSafety Commissioner to establish a new program to help educate parents and children across the ACT about online safety.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said the program, Safe Online Together, would help bridge generational gaps in digital literacy and promote online safety conversations in the household.
Program leader at UC’s News and Media Research Centre, Catherine Page Jeffery said the program would deliver a series of evidence-based, innovative workshops and online resources to provide families with skills to balance the risks and opportunities associated with digital technologies.
Dr Page Jeffery said it was important for parents, alongside their children, to be educated in online safety.
“Parents are tasked with protecting their children from online risks, while simultaneously maximising the various opportunities that digital media offer young people,” Dr Page Jeffery said.
“My research indicates that parents find this difficult, or that attempts to manage their children’s device use can result in family conflict,” she said.
“The Safe Online Together pilot program will consist of family workshops, student presentations, online resources and materials for young people and their families, and a program evaluation to help shape future research in this area.”
Dr Page Jeffery said the steps would help parents and children appreciate each other’s concerns and perspectives.
“We want parents to appreciate the important role that digital media plays in the lives of young people,” she said.
“At the same time, we want young people to acknowledge their parents’ concerns about online risks, as well as their parents’ desire for balanced use of digital media.”
She said the program also aimed to change the perception of young people as vulnerable risk takers in the online environment, and instead support them to share their knowledge about managing their online presence with younger peers and families.
The pilot program of Safe Online Together kicks off this month and is expected to run through until 2022.
