The Government has opened a public consultation 'Parental internet controls' about the best way to protect children and young people from harmful content online. Take part and respond to the questionnaire to ensure your concerns are heard and more effective plans are put in place to protect children online.

The consultation is especially keen to involve and hear views from parents and carers. The Government has a responsibility to review all consultation responses and will publish a summary of consultations responses.

How do i take part in the consultation?

To take part in the consulation you can download the consultation response form and submit your completed response via the online form.
Closing date: 6 September 2012
The Government is proposing three options to manage what children and young people can access online:

1. Some adult content (eg. pornography) is automatically blocked, however, you can request for these blocks to be removed.
2. Option to switch on access restrictions to certain content such as pornography, self-harm and social networks.
3. Same as option 2) except some options such as porn are automatically ticked in advance, but you have the option to un-tick these.

The internet is increasingly becoming a significant part of children's lives with 70 per cent of UK 9-16 year olds going online daily. Worryingly, 19 per cent of 11-16 year olds rising to 32 per cent of 14-16 year olds have seen potentially harmful content online, and one in five young people have received unwanted sexual content online.

Further information

The Department for Education website