How can parents know when children are accessing violent material and how should they discuss the risks?. The revelations about the internet activity of Axel Rudakubana, who murdered three girls at a Southport dance class last summer, have renewed concerns about the availability of extreme violence online.
Experts, including child psychotherapists and internet safety advisers, agree that, although the details of the case are shocking, they present an ideal opportunity for parents to discuss the dangers of online violence, and its impact, with their children.
Mary Glasgow, the chief executive of the Scottish child protection charity Children First, said, based on its research, parents should not be naive about the risks: their children either will see violent content online or have already seen it. Dr Julia Ebner, a researcher specialising in radicalisation, extremism and terrorism at the University of Oxford and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, said the Southport case might trigger some young people’s curiosity, leading them to do their own research online, which could put them at risk. “They might go down a rabbit hole and expose themselves to radicalisation or engaging with extreme content,” said Ebner. “So this is an important moment to raise awareness and to educate.”.
Ideally, experts agreed, parents should discuss online safety with their children before they gain access to the internet, and should continue to talk to them regularly about their online lives. There are a range of parental resources, from Internet Matters’ family digital toolkit to advice from children’s charities such as the NSPCC, which cover parental control tools, such as blocks and filters, to reduce the risks of children accessing harmful and inappropriate material. However, experts acknowledged there was comparatively little guidance for parents specifically about online violent content, although the Department for Education and the Home Office have produced a leaflet about protecting children from extremism.
