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Conference helps young people get internet savvy
12 December 2005(PRLEAP.COM) The objective of the one day conference, Teen Works 2005: Young People and the Internet, was to explore young people's awareness and use of the Internet and mobile phones, and look at current and upcoming trends in this area. The conference was organised by WISE KIDS and ITWales and was held as part of ict forum wales 2005, in Swansea.
Rhian Davies, Assistant Children's Commissioner for Wales, delivered the keynote address and informed the audience of education, business and voluntary sector delegates that there is a significant lack of awareness of young people's mobile and internet habits by parents and carers. Davies commented that schools owe a duty of care to pupils outside of school, and as such should educate pupils on safe internet usage. Her final comment was that parents need to "get real and get informed".
Elizabeth Williams, Youth and Pupil Participation, Welsh Assembly Government, supported Rhian Davies's comments, and told delegates that a balance needs to be reached between open use of digital media by the young, and appropriate "inoculation" to ensure that young people are provided with the appropriate skills, and opportunities for personal development to make emotional judgements concerning risk.
Angus Cormie of The Digital Business, spoke on the topic of mobile phones. He explained to the audience that mobile phones are the most important status symbol to teenagers and young people, and that some 80% of all new mobile phone subscriptions are for 15-19 year olds. Despite the explosive growth in mobile technologies, young people have very poor safety knowledge. Cormie went on to give examples including mobile spam, bullying, chat rooms and appropriate use of mobile technologies in public. Reaffirming the statements of the previous speakers, Cormie concluded by saying that education is vital in this area.
Sangeet Bhullar, Director of WISE KIDS, and Teen Works organiser, suggested that policy makers need to investigate how modern technologies can be used for good. Bhullar's presentation covered the WISE KIDS mentor programme which has recently been successfully trialled to support online and face to face training for young people.
Ruth Hammond of Becta discussed the role the internet can play in transforming teaching and learning. Hammond acknowledged the risks, but stated that more should be done to help young people protect themselves, saying, "ICT is the media, not the cause." In closing, Hammond commented that schools need to appoint eSafety Co-ordinators at a senior level to develop and manage policies to help the young help themselves.
The afternoon session of Teen Works 2005: Young People and the Internet was split into two distinct seminar streams, with one focussing on online communities and the other on child protection issues. The seminars gave examples of research and guidelines in these areas to develop strategies that young people and adults could use to ensure their personal safety, whilst making the most of new technologies.
Teen Works 2005: Young People and the Internet was the first event of its kind in Wales, and attracted a large audience from education, business and voluntary sectors.
More information can be found at www.wisekids.org.uk.
The event was supported by Careers Wales, CLIC and BT.
ict forum wales 2005 is organised by ITWales in collaboration with Swansea University and the University of Wales Bangor. The programme is supported by the Welsh Development Agency and part financed by the European Social Fund.
- ENDS -
For further information and interviews please contact Sali Earls, ict forum wales press office, tel: 01792 513382, or email: info@itwales.com.
Useful Links:
ITWales - www.itwales.com
Welsh Development Agency - www.wda.co.uk
WISE KIDS - www.wisekids.org.uk
Children's Commissioner for Wales - www.childcom.org.uk
Welsh Assembly Government - www.wales.gov.uk/wag/wag.htm
The Digital Business - www.thedigitalbusiness.com
Becta - www.becta.org.u
Careers Wales - www.careerswales.com
CLIC - www.cliconline.co.uk
BT - www.bt.com
Source: prleap
All trademarks and copyrighted information contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
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