16.8.2013
Hrvatski Telekom was the first company on the Croatian market to provide protection of children from unpleasant experiences while using modern technologies. As of today, HT has enriched its Parental Control service with the Internet Content Filtering Option which makes it possible for parents to protect their children even more efficiently from inappropriate content while they surf the Internet.
With Internet Content Filtering Option you can clearly determine the content and time of Internet access – which Internet pages the child can access and at what time. Thanks to this service children can surf without additional parental supervision and use the Internet and all its benefits according to their interests. Parents may rest assured that their child will not be exposed to explicit violence scenes or adult content while surfing.
Internet Content Filtering Option can be activated on any device with Internet access, whether a mobile phone, tablet or desktop computer, tablet or game console. The rules are defined very easily, via Moj Telekom Portal (online center for overview and administration of HT services).
Users can opt for:
- safe search which prevents viewing of inappropriate content by categories, i.e. sex and violence, addiction and safety; Internet pages to which access should be enabled or disabled;
- the lock feature which prevents children from downloading specific file types (e.g. image files - JPG, JPEG or GIF files used for online advertising).
The Parental Control Rules can apply only to children. Parents can bypass them and surf the Internet by using their PIN.
Beside Internet protection, the Parental Control service also offers the possibility for parents to decide, together with their children, with whom the children can communicate on their mobile phones – talk or send SMS. There is also the possibility to restrict specific traffic types, e.g. traffic to international destinations or sending value-added SMS/MMS.
According to the Survey* conducted by Hrvatski Telekom in the course of June and July among Croatian children aged 6 to 18 years and their parents about online habits and experiences, when it comes to safety, both children and parents are worried about similar dangers: coming across inappropriate content, disturbing images and unpleasant experiences with unknown persons. Children in the youngest age group (six to nine years) are mostly worried about disturbing images that appear with a click when they play games. Other groups see the greatest danger in pedophilia. These dangers, among others, can be avoided with the Parental Control service.
According to the Survey, 80 percent of parents like the concept of the Parental Control service, while 75 percent of parents think that this service is essential on the market.
In Croatia, most parents do not use any Internet protection programs for their children – only 15 percent of respondents confirmed that they use one of the programs. It should be pointed out that the respondents often do not distinguish between protection and antivirus programs.
According to the Survey, parents of the children aged 6 to 9 years protect their children mainly by being present at the moment of surfing or by checking history, while parents of the children aged 10 to 14 years check their SMS messages. As reasons for not using protection programs they state that their children are not interested in such disturbing contents and are convinced that the children inform them about their negative experiences on the Internet, which is fully supported only by statements of the children aged 6 to 9 years. As much as 52 percent of children aged 10 to 14 years and 46 percent of young people aged 15 to 18 years never talk to their parents about their disturbing experiences on the Internet.
Young people aged 15 to 18 are particularly exposed to Internet risks because they surf most – mainly via mobile phones. A little less than half the children in this age group (44 percent) said that they – sometimes to very often – see images and clips of people and animal abuse, suicide and terrorism while surfing the Internet; almost one third comes across adult content, every fifth respondent had unpleasant experiences with acquaintances, and every seventh respondent with unknown persons.
It should be mentioned that the parents of children in this age group show a high level of trust in their children (89 percent); they think that their children know more about the Internet than they do (64 percent) and that they can protect themselves from potential dangers (76 percent). 22 percent of parents say that they receive information about the Internet and Internet protection mainly from their children.
The children in this age group show the highest level of self-confidence on this subject – 93 percent of them believe that they can recognize potential dangers. However, the Survey shows that as many as one third of the children in this age group have communicated with persons they do not know person, almost every fourth respondent accepts friendship of unknown persons on social networks and every fifth respondent has given his/her password to a person s/he does not know in person. Nine percent of the respondents have shared their address and telephone number with persons they do not know in person.
When it comes to safety of children on the Internet, parents of the children aged 10 to 14 years are most worried, the reason being that their children are actively involved in various Internet activities but not mature enough to protect themselves efficiently.
As this age group is under the strict supervision of their parents, their risky activities on the Internet are not as frequent as in the age group 15 to 18. However, almost one fifth of the respondents said that they – sometimes to very often – communicate with people they do not know in person, 24 percent of the respondents accept friendship from people they do not know in person, and 20 percent give their password to people they do not know in person.
The youngest age group – from six to nine years, uses the Internet predominantly for playing games (93 percent) via desktop computers (70 percent), and their parents are mostly present when they surf. They come across disturbing contents - mainly photographs - less frequently than the other two groups, mostly with a click while playing games.
Children start to use the Internet in Croatia at an ever earlier age. The group of children aged six to nine used the Internet for the first time at this very age – 58 percent, whereas 38 percent surfed between four and five years already, and five percent before three years old. For the sake of comparison, in the oldest group of respondents – 15 to 18 years – only one percent had Internet surfing experience before three years old, and seven percent between four and five years old.
Generally speaking, children in Croatia have the first contact with the Internet most often at the age of six to nine years. Younger age groups access the Internet primarily via desktop computers (about 70 percent). Children aged 15 to 18 years mostly use mobile phones - in 85 percent cases, while their second most frequently used access channel is desktop computer (74 percent).
Parents think that no technical protection whatsoever will fully protect their children from unpleasant online experience if not coupled with awareness and trust in their relationship with children.
Jasenka Pregrad, a psychologist and psychotherapist, one of the authors of the program "Break the Chain – Stop Electronic Violence", which UNICEF Office for Croatia developed for elementary schools, said:
"Exploring the Internet undoubtedly entails some risks and dangers regarding harassment, violence and abuse of children, but not any more than exploring the real world. Parents have the task to protect their children from risks and dangers, no matter where they come from. We adults think that we have successfully protected our children in the real world (nevertheless accidents sometimes happen – in traffic, on the playground, children fall victim to other adults and peers). In recent years, in the context of accelerated Internet growth, we have been learning how to protect children from inappropriate content, peer violence and adult abuse. 'Parental Control' is a very welcome help for parents intent on protecting their children, all the more so because it makes it possible for every parent to choose which content will be filtered with regard to age and personality of their children. Apart from protecting children from specific disturbing and risky contents, controlling the time spent on the Internet, parents should learn how to talk to their children, advise and inform them about the netiquette rules so that they can explore the virtual world as safely as possible. Their safe surfing the Internet is equally important as their traffic safety."
“The services which HT offers are the response to customer real needs. The idea behind this unique service was to ensure carefree childhood with Internet as an essential part of it. Our goal is a happy child, i.e. to make it possible for children to creatively use technology without any fear”, said Carsten Filthuth, Director of the Proposition Management Mobile Department of Hrvatski Telekom.
The Parental Control service of Hrvatski Telekom has been adjusted to national customers – in the Croatian language. Internet Content Filtering Option can be tried for 1 kuna a month (for the first two months of use), after which the monthly fee will be 15 kuna, while other Parental Control features are free of charge.
*National survey which HT conducted in cooperation with the agency GfK in June/July 2013.