Professor Brian O'Neill:

They will most often turn to their parents for support when they have an upsetting experience or when something goes wrong. We must empower parents by ensuring they are in a position to give reliable, trusted and authoritative advice, and that type of parental guidance should be widely available. The National Parents Council - Primary, a partner in the safer Internet Ireland project, offers resources and training to parents and would, I am sure, benefit from greater support for the work it does. There is a strong recognition that the parental mediation role is absolutely central. An important point to note is the new research showing the particular challenges facing younger parents and parents of younger children in this area. There must be a greater effort to develop guidance for even the youngest children, including infants, in order that parents can assess the risks of exposure to the many different types of digital devices that are so widely available. Children acquire a digital footprint almost from the day they are born.