Ms Áine Lynch:

It strikes me as we are having this discussion that if we were sitting here 25 years ago we would be having the same discussion about the Internet. The discussion is continuing. With all the regulation that needs to come in for companies, we also need to remember young people’s own capacity and agency in this conversation. That takes us to a point where we need to make sure the media literacy work that is continuously being done for young people and their parents continues and steps up. On critical thinking, the young people themselves have called for more education in schools about it. Parents in our survey said they need more information as well. For all the legislation and tools one can put in place, nothing will beat protecting children through the parent and child relationship and having that support between the parent and child and the school and the child. We need to put the education process in place so young people can use their critical thinking to look at what information is being put in front of them. They have been doing it all along with the Internet and now it needs to be adapted for this. As well as the necessary legislation, we really need to do the education programmes for students, teachers and parents around to work out whether something they look at is real or not. We need to give them those tools.