In 1995 less than 1% of the world population had access to the internet. Fast forward to 2016 and approximately 40% of the entire planets occupants have the world at their fingertips. With almost half of the world accessing online materials \u2013 there is no defined explicit common user. <\/p>\n
From silver surfers to tactile toddlers tapping at a screen and everyone in between \u2013 the internet and all associated technologies are more accessible to most people in the developing world than ever before.<\/p>\n
But what does this mean for our teens?<\/strong><\/p>\n The Children\u2019s Commissioner for England warned recently, that children starting secondary school were on a \u2018cliff edge\u2019 as they entered the world of cyber bullying and pornography. Even a recent issue of Wired \u2013 the techie go-to magazine declared \u2018the internet is broken\u2019.<\/p>\n Parents, carers and those in positions of pastoral care for our young people are asking themselves \u2018have we allowed the internet to go too far with our youth, have they become detached from reality?\u2019.<\/p>\n A recent report identified that one in three British 15-year olds are \u2018extreme internet users\u2019 \u2013 spending at least six hours a day on line. Over 34% of those UK children have experienced cyberbullying, accessed harmful content or had a negative experience.<\/p>\n Ruth Dalton, Group Head of Communications and Marketing for New Directions comments on the topic \u2018the rise and rise of an online lifestyle for teens is catastrophic. There is never a time when our young people seem to be detached from social platforms. Whilst I professionally work to enhance our messages to our communities via our digital platforms, I can switch off my PC at 5pm (ha\u2026) most evenings and enjoy the reality of the real world\u2019<\/p>\n Dalton continues \u2018there are literally endless possibilities regards social sites our teens have access to. Most have mobile phones and a ton of free time. They leave school at 3pm but often they never switch off from their peer groups. As a parent, it is worrying\u2019.<\/p>\n