Many parents will be relieved to hear about the launch of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety to try and protect children that go online

The availability of broadband has benefited many consumers groups, and this includes younger consumers who can now enjoy using the Internet to help them to study, as well as to keep in touch with friends, get information, and more. Many children spend hours on the Internet every week, with broadband packages making it possible for them to do this without racking up extra costs.

However, parents have been concerned about many aspects of their children using the Internet, particularly given the popularity of chat rooms, and more recently social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace. In addition, many parents worry about their children being able to access inappropriate websites.

The launch of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety will help parents that are worried about leaving their children alone to use the Internet, and the group will commence work in September of this year. The aim of he council will be to make the Internet far safer for children. Members of the council will include children’s charities and industry experts. They are aiming to hold the first Child Internet Safety Summit in spring of 2009.

Kevin Brennan, the minister for children and young people, said: “All children deserve to take advantage of opportunities new technologies bring but parents have told us that they want support from the government to help make sure these opportunities are beneficial to their children’s development without causing harm.”

Recent studies have shown that many younger consumers spend a large proportion of their time on the Internet, and broadband has proven invaluable in providing younger consumers with a tool to help them with their studies. However, there are also many worrying factors such as the types of sites that children can access and the safety of children when using the Internet unsupervised.