Comment: We need to act to protect young lives

As chairman of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, deputy patron of Outward Bound, a shopkeeper, dad, grandfather and employer of more than 25,000 (many young) people, I am a firm believer that we control the quality of tomorrow by the example we give to young people today. So the Online Safety Bill, intended to protect children from inappropriate material, instantly grabbed my attention.

Prior to this debate I believed child protection online was just about ‘porn’ - an understandable assumption when a quarter of online searches are for pornography. I was wrong. It appears that second only to death by accident, suicide is the biggest killer in the 15 to 24 age group.

And, frighteningly, most of the encouragement and ideas for mode of suicide come online. As life is an acquired taste with a requirement for patience, I see no merit in making it easier for family, friends, staff or young people generally to exit prematurely this world of ours, imperfect as it is.

Taking into consideration the shocking online influence on bullying, anorexia, self-harm and sexting, the case for seriously enhanced cyber protection systems becomes overwhelmingly compelling. As parents, employers and responsible citizens, the need to ‘get on the case’ is urgent - it is literally life or death.

Edmund Burke famously said “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”. Doing nothing is not a responsible option for readers of this journal, or any citizen with a functioning brain. Inaction will most definitely seriously damage you, me, society and humanity.

Through education, legislation, filters and verification systems - whatever it takes - we need to act now to effectively protect our children.

Of course it is possible to ignore laws, circumvent systems and unfilter filters - but that is no excuse for doing nothing. Speed bumps do not stop speeding, but they certainly slow people down. So the least we need are filters to act as online speed bumps.

The internet is undoubtedly a wonderful resource that is lovingly embraced by retailers as it magics eminently deserved income into our gasping coffers. It has a phenomenally positive impact on the lives of millions across the globe. But it has a deeply dark and dangerous side to it, presenting a monster challenge in bringing up children that we underestimate at our eternal peril.

As substantial beneficiaries of the web and big employers of young people, with huge advertising budgets and massive social influence, we retailers surely have a moral duty to do all in our gift to ease our young people through their challenging years and protect them from inappropriate and desperately harmful online material and influences.

Will our best efforts help improve our profitability, drive additional footfall, increase stock turn or minimise staff turnover? Maybe. Certainly they tick a big CSR box, if that floats your boat. Much more importantly though, it is the right thing to do. We have the power to change young lives and we should use it, always remembering that history unambiguously demonstrates that we reap what we sow.

A happy and safe Christmas to you and your children.