Wendy Christie looks over the past 11 years as the content and technology has changed. There are better tools, but also more content from more places. And she concludes that while filters are useful, we will always need humans to help moderate our online resources.
However, with the increased volume of content available, there is an inevitable downside. With virtually unlimited access to smaller devices, it is practically impossible for adults to supervise the use of phones and tablets by children.
‘Sexting’ among teens was unheard of back in the noughties. Studies vary on how common this practice is. However, our experience suggests that it is now more commonplace for young people to be exposed to sexual texts and pictures from their peers, or to be coerced in to sending their own ‘sexts’.
And bullying online is more widespread and more subtle.
