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Zip it, Block it, Flag it

On 8 December 2009, the Government unveiled a groundbreaking child internet safety strategy and announced that schools across the UK will teach a new digital code. The aim is that your son or daughter will remember the mantra ‘Zip it, Block it, Flag it’ when they are navigating their digital worlds, just as our generation learnt ‘Stop, Look, Listen’ for crossing the road.

At the UKCCIS Summit on 8 December, Prime Minister Gordon Brown commented: “The internet provides our children with a world of entertainment, opportunity and knowledge – a world literally at their fingertips. But we must ensure that the virtual world is as safe for them as this one.”

The Prime Minister also revealed that he recently learnt a lesson about the importance of supervising young children online when his son Fraser accidentally sent a gobbledegook message on his mum’s Twitter page

As part of our commitment to helping encourage safe and responsible use of digital technology, Vodafone has helped to develop this strategy and code along with over 140 members of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety, including Facebook, Google, MySpace and the NSPCC.

We attended and took part in a number of discussions at the UKCCIS Summit, including:

  • A Parents’ Panel where mums and dads quizzed UKCCIS members about thing like where parents can get training about digital technology and what role schools play in teaching e-safety
  • A seminar about the latest research into opportunities and risks in the digital world
  • A Children and Young People’s Panel about cyberbullying, content, privacy and other issues close to the panelists’ hearts

The key message that came across from parents and young people alike is that there is a digital divide between generations, which needs to be bridged.

We hope that our Parents’ Guide is helping you to talk more confidently to your kids about their digital world and we’ll make sure we keep you updated about the new UK child internet safety strategy and digital code over the next few months.

If you’d like to know more now, check out the DCSF website or watch this BBC News interview

How old are your kids?

What you need to know to get started

  • 5-7 years old

    Technology is part of your child's life before they start primary school. They're probably using the computer, the internet and interactive TV for fun - watching programmes on the CBeebies channel and website or taking part in the Club Penguin chat rooms...but they still need adult guidance and supervision.

    Read more

  • 8-11 years old

    If you have 8-11 year old children, your house is probably full of technology - PlayStation, Nintendo, iPod...the list goes on. In fact, research shows that 8-11 year olds in the UK have an average of four media devices in their bedroom.

    This is a crucial age for young people to embrace new technologies and develop their ICT skills both at home and at school...and it's a crucial time for you to take control when they start exploring the digital world as well as the real world.

    Read more

  • 12-14 years old

    They're at secondary school and growing up fast. It's a time of change and their digital world might seem as important as the real world to them. They might spend their evenings on Bebo, Facebook or MySpace ; watching videos on YouTube and uploading their own for others to watch; or doing research for their homework.

    You want to encourage their technology and social skills, of course, so it's useful to understand what they're doing with technology and to get involved with it.

    Read more

  • 15+ years old

    Once your children are teenagers, it might be tempting to think that they're tech-savvy and dealing with everything the virtual world can throw at them. You probably watch in awe as they switch from chatting with friends on Facebook to updating their Twitter profile; playing against someone on the other side of the world on their games console to downloading music on their mobile.

    It's all great fun but, as they get older, the things you need to help them to cope with in their digital world are ever more challenging. Far from leaving them to it, you really need to keep communicating with them.

    Read more

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