DEPARTMENT FOR
CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES News Release (2008/0126) issued by
The Government News Network on 24 June 2008
The Byron Review
Action Plan published today by Children's Minister Kevin
Brennan, will set out key milestones to deliver all of Dr
Byron's recommendations as set out in her report "Safer
Children in a Digital World"
Kevin Brennan Minister for Children and Families said:
"Internet and video games are an everyday part of many young
people's lives. Enjoying the benefits should come hand in
hand with managing risks.
"Our commitment to deliver the action plan ahead of time
will help to continue the momentum Dr Byron set to empower parents
and protect children in tackling the harms associated with
Internet and Video Games.
"Government working with industry and partners will meet the
commitment to deliver Dr Byron's recommendations by building
on the collaborative and consultative approach established by Dr
Byron during the review."
Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said:
"I am determined to do all I can to help ensure that there
is an internet environment that is safe for children to use.
"The Home Office has already published the first ever social
networking guidance to make sites safer, and we will soon require
child sex offenders to notify their e-mail addresses to police so
that they can allow this information to be passed on to social
networking websites.
"By working in partnership with law enforcement agencies and
charities we can drive forward our efforts to protect children
online from the harms associated with the internet, and help make
sure it is safe for them."
Culture Minister Margaret Hodge said:
"The UK video games industry is a real success story and the
internet is now part of our lives in a way that we couldn't
have imagined a few years ago. But just because these technologies
are fast-moving and exciting doesn't mean that we
shouldn't have appropriate safeguards.
"By taking forward Dr Byron's recommendations we will
help children to safely navigate the internet and allow parents to
make informed decisions about what is appropriate for their child."
The Action Plan sets out detailed actions and milestones which
will timetable how these recommendations will be made into
reality. The recommendations sit under six main groups which are:
* UK Council for Child Internet Safety
The UK Council for
Child Internet Safety will be a forum where Government department,
stakeholders and industry come together and jointly contribute to
the development and delivery of the Child Internet Safety Strategy.
* Better Regulation
Activity under "Better
regulation" will be the responsibility of the council. But as
Byron identified if we are really serious about making the
internet a safer place for children we need to secure the
cooperation of industry many who are not in the UK. Breaking new
ground Government will explore self regulatory standards for
industries to sign up to.
* Public Information and Awareness Campaign
Byron's
recommendation identified the need for more public information
with 53% of adults wanting more information on the internet and
57% of parents not knowing where to get information about how to
protect their children online. Therefore e-safety will be included
in the Government's major child safety awareness campaign
which will begin in summer 2008 supported by £9m investment and
developed with the UKCCIS. This will not be about telling people
what to do - but empowering them to keep themselves and their
families safe.
* Better Education
Specific recommendations mean that working
with Ofsted, schools and other services are important partners to
equipping Children and Parents to stay safe online. The UKCCIS
will work with various partners to pull together a strategy to act
on this complex and wide-ranging area of activity. The Governments
Staying Safe Action Plan will also play a key part in delivering
activity on e-safety and this includes an increased emphasis on
internet safety in the new ICT Curriculum for Key Stage 3 in
September 2008.
* Reforming the classification system for video
games
Government will address the confusion around video games
ratings and will shortly launch a consultation to consider all
necessary evidence around current and future video games classification.
* Information and support to parents on video games
Working
with industry Government will help agree a set of standards for
in-store information with the aim of raising awareness to
consumers and to ensure age-appropriate gaming.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The Byron Review Action Plan can be found at http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/byronreview/actionplan
where a full list of actions and milestones are listed.
2. The plan sets out estimated costs of implementing the Reviews
recommendations. The full costs of implementing the
recommendations will become clearer once UKCCIS has developed the
Child Internet Safety Strategy in spring 2009.
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