JU researcher in collaboration with Telia about child safety on the internet

Frida Lygnegård from the School of Health and Welfare at Jönköping University has been commissioned by Telia to evaluate a digital tool, the "Mobile Driving Licence". The tool is designed to help children and their parents feel safer online. The evaluation showed that the tool has helped parents to talk to their children about internet safety.

Developed in collaboration with Telia and the anti-bullying organisation, Friends, the Mobile Driving Licence consists of a knowledge section and a stand-alone test.

The aim is to enable conversations about mobile phone use and life on the internet, to help provide a safe and secure start for young people who are about to go online on their own.

Frida Lygnegård, a teacher and researcher at the School of Health and Welfare, has interviewed children and parents about their experience of using the Mobile Driving Licence as a tool. The assignment was carried out in collaboration with Forum for Social Innovation Sweden (MSI) at JU.

"The Internet was not created for children, but we know that children are consumers of its content from a very early age, so this kind of evaluation is important," says Frida Lygnegård.

Knowledge about internet safety increases

Most parents felt that the tool made it easier and gave them more confidence to talk to their children about safety.

The Mobile Driving Licence also increased children's knowledge of internet safety. Children became more aware that they should always turn to an adult with questions or for guidance on how to act in unpleasant situations.

There were also requests from both children and parents that the tool should be more interactive with more videos that provided knowledge and thought-provoking messages.

Telia will now use the results of the study to develop the Mobile Driving Licence further.

"I hope that the study can help more parents realise the importance of having a continuous dialogue with their children about what they do online and that children and parents feel confident about how to act in order to explore the internet in a safe and secure way," says Frida.

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