Narrowing the gap between the information rich and the information poor :
New technologies and the future of the school

The Canadian Strategy to Promote Safe, Wise and Responsible Use of Internet

Ottawa, Canada
Used throughout the country

The Canadian Strategy to promote safe, wise and responsible Internet use aims to increase public awareness of issues relating to illegal and offensive Internet content by giving parents, teachers and librarians access to information tools and resources. A publication prepared by Industry Canada, "Illegal and Offensive Content on the Internet" presents initiatives that educate and empower users, effective self regulation, law reinforcement, etc.
Related to this publication, a Research Group conducted a survey on behalf of Media Awareness Network ("Young Canadians in a Wired World - Parents Youth and Focus Groups") among parents whose children between the ages of 6 and 16 years (1st phase, March 2000). A second phase, completed in July 2000, investigated issues related to child safety on the Internet among parents and children. Issues such as family involvement (location, supervision and control), privacy, safety and values, technology issues and competencies were discussed.

This program is a tool that can be used by teachers or parents. For the moment, there is no training provided.

According to the survey, while parents think they supervise their children with Internet, most children say they feel completely unsupervised with the new tool. The disparity in perception arises because most of the time parents, lacking a full understanding of how the children use the Internet, approach the supervision of the Internet as if it were television.
In fact, few parents have the technological competencies to guide their children in their use of Internet.

Information Distribution Center
Communication Branch
Industry Canada
Room 268D, West Tower
235 Queen Street
Ottawa ONTARIO, K1A 0H5, CANADA
(613) 947 7466
publications@ic.gc.ca
http://www.cyberwise.ca/index.htm

2000

The research like "Canada's Children in a Wired World - The Parent's View" guided the publication's preparation.