Child protection
Mobile phones play a big part in many young people's lives. They are used for chatting and swapping messages with friends, surfing the web and taking pictures. So, it is very easy to see why young people love them. Mobiles are also great for parents, because they can stay in close contact with their children when they are out and about.
But there are risks and issues associated with the use of mobiles by children and young people. O2 is committed to creating an environment in which children can use information and communications technologies to enrich and improve their lives.
We focus on understanding and responding to the needs of our customers, including parents and children. Some mobile content is inappropriate for young people. However, parents may be unaware of this kind of content and would therefore be unable to manage the risks.
In each of our markets we provide parents and children with the necessary tools and guidance to use our products and services safely. These include filters and parental controls to protect young people from inappropriate content.
O2 is committed to a collaborative approach in this area and in 2006, together with European mobile providers, we signed up to the European commission framework for the safer mobile use by young teenagers and children. We actively work with national governments in all our markets to establish national codes of conduct, and work with NGOs such as Childnet International, Protageles, the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI), to train our employees and educate our consumers.
O2's mobile guide for parents
This guide has lots of useful facts and practical advice about today's mobile phones. O2 recognises the importance of media literacy and is committed to helping our customers get the most from new mobile media content and communications technologies. This includes offering advice about the ways that children can become better protected from risks in an online environment.
Alternatively, you can download our leaflet by section:
Working with you to protect your children - O2's commitment to making mobile phone use as safe as possible.
What your child's mobile can do - A quick introduction to the different features of mobile phones.
Getting started - A few things you should know before your child starts using a mobile.
Voice and voicemail services - Some tips on using a phone for a one-to-one conversation.
Text and media messaging - The different types of messaging you can do with a mobile.
Using camera phones safely - Being sensible about taking and sending pictures with a camera phone.
Staying safe online - Some things to keep in mind when using a mobile to access the internet.
Dealing with bullies - Advice for anyone who is being bullied through their mobile phones.
Stopping nuisance calls and unwanted contact - What to do if you are getting upsetting or malicious calls.
Dealing with spam - What to do with unwanted messages from companies trying to sell something.
Protecting phones from theft - Some ideas to help you prevent your phone being stolen.
Know what you are paying for - Making sure you know what services you are getting and how much they cost.
Are mobile phones bad for children's health? - Advice from the Department of Health.
See what we are doing in each country
UK
See what we can do to protect our children O2 is committed to educating parents about how to keep their children safe when using their mobiles. As part of this commitment, we have recently launched our child protection website.
This guide written by children's internet charity, Childnet International, gives you a checklist of important questions to ask your Mobile Operator when purchasing a mobile phone so that you can ensure you have the tools and support to help protect children and make sure they get the most out of using their mobile phones safely.
Germany
For more about 'Polly und Fred', our interactive CD to help children use their mobiles responsibly and safely, visit: http://www.pollyundfred.de/ or, call the 'Polly und Fred' hotline +49(0)1805 - 672963.
- Schola-21
An international, interactive learning and information system providing a technological network for students, schools and their teachers to improve project work, started in 2003 as IYF charity of the year. All 7 reference schools are ongoing and 5 new partner schools will be established in 2008. On November 28th 2007 at an award ceremony in Berlin, for best schools in the Einstein Online Academy project, SCHOLA-21 was presented to Telefónica Deutschland who decided to partner with O2 Germany by having a reference school in Verl in 2008.
For more information visit http://www.schola-21.de/ and http://www.schola-21.com/. - A Net for Children
Aim is to establish a positive list of websites with appropriate content for children ("White list") to create a safe internet space specifically for children. The project will run for 3 years and is a Public-Private partnership between the German Government and the ICT industry (founding members e.g.: O2 Germany, AOL, Google, Microsoft). It is managed by the German self-regulatory body for multimedia (FSM - Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Multimedia) and was launched on 29th November 2007.
For more information visit http://www.fragfinn.de/.
O2 Ireland
This guide produced by O2 Ireland provides questions to ask before buying a mobile phone for your child.
Telefónica O2 Czech Republic
- Bullying in Schools - Project MIŠ
The MIŠ is the first project in the Czech Republic that looks for a systemic and country-wide applicable remedy against school bullying. The name of the project represents our belief that bullying can be effectively minimised or mitigated. The MIŠ project was initiated and financed by the O2 Foundation; the project was launched on 30 August 2005. The aim of this Minimisation of Bullying project is to verify methods of creating safe school environment and fighting against bullying in pilot schools. One of the goals is also to start a society-wide discussion about bullying. The MIŠ project was awarded with an extraordinary Donor Forum Prize 2005.
For more information visit Nadace O2 or the MIŠ website. - Safety Child Line Safety Line focuses on providing immediate assistance to children in crisis. O2 act as Safety Line's general partner; the general partnership include not only financial support but also technological backing as well as help in dealing with the issue of bullying in the Czech Republic. The main aim of the partnership is to help this NGO to became more proffesional and intcrease the channel capacity for incoming calls to Child Help Line.
About the Safety Line Association
Safety Line 800 155 555 - primarily intended for children and adolescents in difficult life situations (a non-stop free service accessible from fixed and mobile networks); Message Home Line 800 111 113 and 724 727 777 - intended primarily for children running away from home or institutional facilities (free calls from the fixed network); Parent's Line 283 852 222 - helps adults with problems related to the upbringing of children; Internet Line ilb@linkabezpeci.cz - mirrors the work of the Safety Line using e-mail; the newly introduced Safety Line Chat for Children In Need at chat.linkabezpeci.cz. The help lines receive more than 1,600 calls each day. The main topics addressed by callers are peer and family relations, trouble at school, love and partnerships, bullying and racial issues, and the harassment and abuse of children. SLB ensures that its clients remain anonymous. Safety Line was created in 1994 and received its 7 millionth calls last year.
For more information visit the Safety Line Association website.
