PRESS RELEASE
14th November 2007
For immediate release
In particular, they felt that such dialogue was needed to create the foundation for putting in place a system that would ensure the protection of children online while safeguarding the freedom of expression.
PRESS RELEASE
13th November 2007
For immediate release
CHILD PROTECTION ORGANISATIONS CALL FOR GREATER DIALOGUE WITH FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ADVOCATES AT IGF TO ESTABLISH COLLABORATIVE ACTION ON CHILD PROTECTION.
Following on from the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon statement of the importance of protecting children online at the inaugural session of the second IGF in Rio, [i] members of child protection organisations present have been active in contributing to the sessions of the Forum, demonstrating a range of ways in which various stakeholders can take practical steps to better protect children under the issue of internet governance.
Today, at the IGF workshops on protecting children against sexual exploitation through ICTs children’s organizations regretted that so few industry representatives and freedom of expression advocates were present. One representative from the industry underscored the need for face to face open dialogue around the regulatory measures being undertaken and proposed for child protection and the imperative to protect freedom of expression.
The workshops highlighted the work of NGOs and their collaboration with industry and government concerning online child safety. Increasingly NGOs are working with industry to develop self-regulatory frameworks which respond to public concerns regarding the risks and harms experienced by children in the online environment. However such initiatives appear to be limited to a few developed countries and only a small number of industry stakeholders. This signals that the value of such partnerships in shaping policies and programmes has yet to be recognized if the global challenge to end the exploitation of children through information and communication technologies is to be met.
David Butt, an ECPAT Board member and legal expert on child abuse cases says,
“The broad consensus across civil society, industry and government on the need to protect children from sexual exploitation online is of paramount importance. It provides a great opportunity for progress, but the challenge is for all sectors to build on this consensus constructively and comprehensively.”
John Carr the Chair and spokesperson for Children’s Charities in the
“There is no necessary contradiction between the desire to protect children online and the desire to protect free speech online”
Margaret Moran a member of Parliament in the
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[i] “One particular area of hope, but also concern, is the relationship of children and young people with the Internet. The Internet has opened new doors to them, to knowledge and culture. Yet, it can also present a threat to their safety. The program of this year’s meeting has a strong focus on the protection of children. And I hope that it will contribute to making them safer.” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon statement of the importance of protecting chidren oline at the inaugural session of the second IGF in
As a representative of EU Kids Online, I am participating in Child Safety Online group at IGF. We produced the following press release:
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PRESS RELEASE
12th November 2007
For immediate release
CHILD PROTECTION ORGANISATIONS WELCOME UN SECRETARY GENERAL’S STATEMENT OF THE UN’s COMMITMENT TO CHILD ONLINE SAFETY AT IGF IN RIO.
Representatives from a number of leading Child Protection organisations meeting at the Internet Governance Forum in
Members of child protection organisations working towards online child protection in very many parts of the world are addressing the very real online safety issues for young people. Members are contributing to a number of key sessions at the IGF meeting including;
The groups recognise the enormous value of the Internet has for children and young people but are increasingly seeing at first hand how children and young people are at risk from inappropriate contact, content and excessive commercialism online.
John Carr one of the members of the group representing children’s charities in the
Stephen Balkam CEO of the FOSI (Family Online Safety Institute) in Washington says, “We are increasingly recognising the shared responsibility we all have for ensuring that children can use the internet and mobile services safely. Education in school and for parents is crucial but this has to be complimented by better tools and services from industry players as well as appropriate government oversight .”
Carmen Madrinan CEO from ECPAT
“Whilst we welcome the recognition of the importance of child protection online, we need to ensure that we go beyond words and realise the practical implications for protecting children’s rights and providing safer environments and secure services for young people online. It is crucial that the voice of the Child is consistently heard.”
END
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Did ever happen to you that you had been waiting for an email for months, eagerly, patiently, opening the email inbox every day again and again to finally see that particular email in it? I am sure!
So this is the story of a poor very important email:
I submitted an article to an international SCI;) journal a while ago, and at the confirmation of my submission I was informed that my paper ‘now goes into a reviewing process’ and I would be informed in 3-5 months of the ‘result’.
So the months passed by … junjulaugseptoct … and I thought, sometime at the end of October that would have been appropriate to send an email and ask about the current status of my article. I received no reply, so I tried to send another and another email. Then I thought I was being impatient so I decided to wait a bit longer.
Then, two days ago, I received an email from the journal, saying:
“I am writing again as I have had no reply from you to my October 26th e-mail regarding your paper”
I was staring at the email for quite a while, happy to have finally heard from them and surprised about the October email that I have never received. It turned out at the end that I hadn’t received their email and they hadn’t received any of mine.
Now, in the publication processes, which are already long as they are, this is the worst that can happen. For two months, my article *was accepted* for publication, and I was in the dark.
I am happy that the secretary of the editor was so kind as to send me the email on Wednesday again. I am grateful to her to the moon and back. They could have simply thought I was being an ignorant weirdo, whilst I have been thinking that they are taking waaaay too long to respond. All that just because we take emails as ultimately reliable, as something that absolutely tells whether something was received or not.
Well, I have learned my lesson;)
Lately, a question that at least two out of three persons ask me is: “So what do you do now that you have become a doctor?” This,of course, relates to my work load.
Everyone assumes that there is significantly less work. O_o, not!
Nothing much has really changed in the terms of work load. Just the structure is different. Beside being a teaching assistant, I have also began to lecture, which is far more demanding. The work for preparation of ECPR Summer School 2007 is already taking place. Then, EU Kids Online project also fills up some of my time. Next, I have to work on getting involved in new research projects.
Plus, numerus conferences are coming up so I am writing and sending abstracts and papers.
But all this is nothing. What I really must start working on, are articles out of my PhD. This is how I can really contribute to the scientific knowledge –> by publishing findings from the research in recognized international journals. To be honest, there is also a more pragmatic reasoning behind this than contributing to the knowledge. I need publications in order to get an assistant professorship without which I can’t really climb up the academic ladder. Not that I am pathologically ambitious, but it is a formal request for keeping my job.
Luckily enough, I really like what I do;)) Tho, it often brings me to the dilemma of what is still ‘healthy’ for my private life. I hope to find balance soon, before it is too late.
From now on (I am not exactly sure for how long, cos there is some strategic thinking to be done after yesterday, when I found out internet could not be connected to the flat I live in as there is no telephone connection), things will be delayed on this blog … if it is possible to do more delaying than I am actually doing already;))
So Hamburg … was really nice. Mostly due to two major factors: I had been set into a *MEGA* room, which was nearly an apartment (it was bigger than my current apartment) in the hotel we were staying at.
Upon arrival, the receptionist (which I also believe was the owner of this petit fine hotel) said:
“Miss Lobe (putting an accent on “o”, pronouncing it in a very German way (Lobe is a German surname anyway)), you have been put in a room 16, which is my favorite room!”
That sounded quite promising to me. So I was expecting kind of more-than-on-average nice and cosy room. But when I had actually entered, I was astonished by its actual size and furniture. It had a big double bad on one side, then on the other side, a huge sofa and two armchairs and a little table. Above the sofa, a few meters tall palm-tree was climbing up to a quite high ceiling. In yet another corner there was a working desk and the entrance to a *huge* terrace. And the bathroom … well, it was enormous, needless to say with a huge bath.
So I was telling to one of my friends from the network what a huge rooms were in there. She said hers was not particularly big but was nice. Just after coming back from the dinner, she stopped by and was literally shocked. We soon figured out from the house plan that it was of a size of four standard rooms. As I *love* big spaces, this was a lucky day for me indeed;)
Well.
I didn’t quite have the time to enjoy all that ‘luxury’ as we had been quite busy with our EU Kids Online meeting, which was really enjoyable and efficient itself. After starting off the project late June in London, this was our second ‘whole network’ meeting, but with some of the members we met in September in Luxembourg.
To tell it in short, our aim is to identify as many studies as possible across Europe regarding children’s access to and use of the internet and new online technologies (we basically already did this, and so far available data can bee seen on our page). Next, we are trying to understand this data itself as it derives from different social, cultural and national context and to compare these studies as to identify the changing risks and safety concerns associated with children and new media uses. Finally, we will produce some best practice research guide for those interested in conducting research with children and will develop evidence-based policy recommendations for raising awareness, media literacy and other practical actions to promote safer use of the internet and new online technologies for children.
What I like the most, is the enthusiasm and effort every involved researcher in the network is putting into the project.
All in all, I saw a very little of Hamburg (I took the above picture 5 minutes before my departure on Sunday morning) but no regrets as we really did some big steps forward in our work;)
Yesterday, I think I gave the most awful presentation in my whole conference/seminar/workshops history. My English was extremely bad, my sentences quite fuzzy and the structure of the presentation unclear. Reason? Unknown, so far!
But I love how I managed to put so much on such small slide;))
Then, at the end of the first week, I had a conference in Den Haag, giving a paper at the workshop Methodology Matters. I love the format of it, as we had to send papers beforehand, and at the workshop, we presented them in 15 minutes. Lovely! Because almost an hour was then dedicated to the discussion about each paper, starting off with a discussant’s comments followed by the comments from the rest of the participants. Most effective! I got great comments.
After the conference, Saki, Benoit, Airo and I went for a stroll thru the city and ran into queen herself;)) N/K!!
I submitted it!
.
.
No, not the PhD, but the article;)
Right after I wrote a post about intellectual blockage, I talked to Ian. It helped a lot.
We were discussing options for qualitative interview analysis. Right after the phone call, I started to work. And it’s getting on very well, I must say.
First, I printed off the transcriptions of interviews, and started to reading them thru. At the same time, I am marking an important citations and putting them in additional document, which serves as some kind of category note. Quite some categories has already emerged and I put significant citations from the informants (the researchers who participated in the experiment) in each category.
Later on, I will also use QCA analysis, but more about that when I do so.
I just wanted to say: Thank you, Ian:)