TOPIC 1: The role of ICT in promoting violence amongst Children Violence against children and young people in relation

to new technologies, and in particular the Internet, is a new phenomenon that has spread across diverse societies in recent years in step with the emergence of several new technologies into the mass consumer market of many countries. The thrust of national and international policy-making is clearly to encourage the spread of these technologies across the globe, as is apparent in the promotion of the so-called new information society.

The scale of violence against children in virtual space is closely related to the rapid expansion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) since the early 1990s when the emergence of web browsers triggered the Internet boom. The Internet is perhaps the first and best known of the modern ICTs. In many ways, the subsequent development of other such technologies coheres around or depends to some degree on the Internet, which links in with several distinct technologies, including the World Wide Web, instant messaging (IM), chat rooms, online games, and file-sharing or peer-to-peer software. The Internet may hold centre stage in any discussion of policy in this area, but it is not alone on the stage. Mobile phones and their supporting networks are rapidly becoming a significant component of ICTs.

The multiplication in the appearance online of images of sexual abuse of children is a particularly abhorrent manifestation of violence against children in and via cyberspace and new technologies. But many other forms of harm, such as bullying, are also increasingly evident. As technological advances have outpaced our understanding of their social impacts, including negative impacts, there is a critical need to understand the experiences of children in their own use of new ICTs. This need is particularly important as children will likely continue to be the front-runners in the use of new technologies and in the exploration of social life within virtual settings. As yet, research on the short and long-term impacts on children of engagement and interactions through ICTs is limited. Understanding the elements that have an impact on their vulnerability as well as on their ability for self-protection is therefore crucial.

Research Objectives i. To investigate long term effects on children caused by watching or engaging in violent content in the internet. ii. iii. To understand the way children and others use and experience new technologies. To identify the physical and psychological harms caused to children in the short term and the long term. iv. To identify the most notorious form of ICT technology in terms of ease of access and propagation of violent content. v. To identify strategies that can be used to reduce the impact of ICT violence in young childrens lives.