Children and the Internet

The Internet is not the be all and end all and children will never stop reading books - in fact they seem to be reading more than ever!

However, the Internet can enhance a child's experience of literature. It can also help with schoolwork and the National Curriculum and it will become increasingly important for our children in the next Millennium.

The success of this Millennium Bid will mean that no child is disadvantaged in access when it comes to the world of information on the Internet.

Internet Sites for Kids

Kids have their very own section, Kids 2000. A strictly adult-free zone - you have been warned!

Internet Sites for Parents

The Internet can also help parents, for example:

Ofsted Reports database: The full text of Inspectors' reports on all state-funded schools.
Education information: From the Department of Education and Employment. Includes The School Curriculum - a brief guide to the school curriculum in England, Nursery Education and Becoming a school governor.
Growing Up Drug Free: A Parent's Guide To Prevention: A guide by the US Department of Education. Despite its obvious American bias, it does have some useful information. The similar guide by the Health Education Authority in the UK is not yet available online.
Puffin Books: The children's publisher has an excellent web site where you can check out newly published books, children can question a differnt children's author every month and lots more. Very nice, but be warned - it can be quite slow, so maybe it would be best to look at it with images turned off if it is too long.

But what about pornography?

Some parents might be worried about pornography. Information for All is aware of this problem, in fact the censorship of information is currently an industry wide issue. The Internet and the use of electronic information are still in the very early stages but growing very rapidly. There are constant debates on security systems, copyright laws and the technology involved. There are websites being created every week and millions of new users every year. As the technology becomes more sophisticated, rules and regulations will become established and such issues will be eradicated.

However the management of material in libraries has always been filtered. The issue of online censorship and the filters available will be looked into very carefully, and if considered to be necessary will be pursued. However, public libraries do have a very open environment whereby people can be monitored easily. If a computer terminal is placed in a busy, open area of the library, library staff will have a continuous view of the terminal. Where better to place public access for children than in this kind of environment? [ Taken from Information for All's pack to Chief Librarains. ]

© Information for All
For questions or comments, please contact informall@la-hq.org.uk
URL:http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/informall/why/children.html
Last revised 31-Jan-1997

Website by Sarah Ormes and Isobel Stark of UKOLN