Being a media and communications company with over 11 million customers, we can use our platforms and channels to shine a light on some of the key issues facing our society today.  Beeban Kidron’s InRealLife documentary, a Sky commission and co-production with the BFI is one we wanted to give special mention to. It is showing for the first time on Sky Atlantic at 9pm on November 19th, and will be repeated if you have missed it.

InRealLife asks what exactly is the internet and what is it doing to our children? Taking us on a journey from the bedrooms of British teenagers to the world of Silicon Valley, filmmaker Beeban Kidron suggests that rather than the promise of free and open connectivity, young people are increasingly ensnared in a commercial world. Beguiling and glittering on the outside, it can be alienating and addictive. Quietly building its case, InRealLife asks if we can afford to stand by while our children, trapped in their 24/7 connectivity, are being outsourced to the net? Beeban says: ‘If someone would write the perfect review, it would be that this is a discussion of the greatest importance, and for the first time we start asking questions about what this means, not about the moral rights and wrongs of it.’

Watch the trailer here:

http://inreallifefilm.com/about

You can find an interview of Beeban on our site following this link:

http://www.sky.com/tv/show/documentary-films/article/inreallife-interview

There is a lot you can do to ensure your family can make the most of the internet, whilst avoiding being exposed to inappropriate content.  At Sky we’ve just launched Sky Broadband Shield, a brand new tool that helps you decide which websites can be seen in your home, across all the devices that connect through your Sky Broadband. It gives you the option of filtering websites by age, with the categories organised by age banding.  You can choose from familiar settings from the way movies are classified – i.e. ‘PG’ (under 13s), ‘13’ (13 and over), and ‘18’ (adults only).  You can even make decisions about individual websites, overriding the pre-defined categories.  By blocking or allowing access to specific websites, you can have ultimate control over how you customise your filters

It’s free for all Sky Broadband customers, and includes additional safety features to help protect your family from sites that try to collect private information or disrupt your device. We’ve also pulled together advice on how to stay safe online.

You can find out more about Sky Broadband Shield here.

http://www.sky.com/shield

You can also take a look at our online safety advice here.

http://www.sky.com/safety