The International Telecommunication Union has released a course for parents and teachers on child protection in the online environment.
In the age of digitalisation, parents and guardians have, in addition to other responsibilities for their child's safety, the need to protect them online as well. Often young users of the internet can fall into traps and find themselves in real danger. Yet the Internet provides many opportunities for children, so it is crucial to protect them from the risks and threats they might face in a digital environment.
Rapid advances in technology and general digitalisation have opened up opportunities for children and young people to learn, socialise, access information, and express themselves online. Every day, more and more children connect to the Internet for the first time through personal devices. However, easy access to the Internet and digital technologies also poses significant challenges to respecting children's rights, including ensuring their safety. Consequences can range from threats to personal data security and privacy, to harassment and cyberbullying, harmful content, sexual grooming, and sexual exploitation.
According to the ITU, in 2020,
71 percent of young people in the world (aged 15-24) are using the Internet. The Internet has become an integral part of children's lives, providing many opportunities for communication, learning, and play. The Internet has also become a place where young people are exposed to new ideas and prospects , enabling them to develop successfully, be creative and make meaningful contributions to improving society and accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child recognises children as a particularly vulnerable group and upholds children's rights to protection from all forms of exploitation, including the right to privacy and freedom of expression, all of which are addressed in the context of the principle of evolving capacities. During its 86th session, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) adopted the General Comment (GC) No. 25 (2021) on children’s rights concerning the digital environment. This represents a landmark moment because it is the first authoritative international legal document recognizing explicitly that children’s rights apply both offline and online. The digital environment acts as a nexus to providing diverse opportunities and choices. It has opened many doors for children and young people to realize the full range of their rights, such as the right to participate, express themselves, access information, communicate, learn, and live free from violence.
Addressing the global issue of child online protection (COP) requires a global response, international cooperation, and coordination at the level of each country. With an increasing reliance on digital technologies, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the risks to children online and highlighted the need for urgent action.
In this regard, as part of the
ITU Global COP Programme and based on the COP Guidelines, ITU has produced free online courses for parents and guardians as well as academic and non-academic staff on child protection in the online environment. Both courses are divided into basic and advanced levels. The parenting course is designed to raise awareness among parents, carers, and educators regarding what children may do online, the risks and benefits of using the web, and to help create safer and more rewarding family experiences using information technology. The course for academic and non-academic staff aims to raise awareness of children's protection and rights online, help teachers create a safer online environment for their students in school, and to train teachers to recognise the risks associated with online child sexual exploitation and abuse and how to prevent harm from them.
Both courses are available on the ITU Academy platform:
• Child Online Protection for Parents (Entry) 