Does your child use any of these?

• a mobile phone or games console
• the Internet
• a social networking site such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or YouTube 
• Facetime, Skype, or other instant messengers

If the answer is yes, then your child is potentially at risk.

As parents and carers, our natural desire is to keep our children safe. From learning to cross the road, ride a bike or swim, parents have to teach, guide and support their children - the online world is no different. The best ways to defend against online risks are openness, awareness and education.

Online Safety tips for Parents

Put yourself in control -  Make use of the parental controls on your home broadband and any internet-enabled devices. You can find out how by visiting www.internetmatters.org/controls/interactive-guide/. This guide gives you step-by-step guidance to setting parental controls across many different devices, including those used for gaming.

Search safely -  Use safe search engines such as swiggle.org or kids-search.com. Safe search settings can also be activated on Google and other search engines as well as YouTube.  

Agree boundaries -  Be clear what your child can and can’t do online - where they can use the internet, how much time they can spend online, the sites they can visit and the type of information they can share. Agree with your child when they can have a mobile  phone or tablet.

Explore together -  The best way to find out what your child is doing online is to ask them to tell you about it. Talk to your child about what they like doing online. Use the Conversation Starter guide (see below) to help you start a conversation with your child, so you have a better understanding of what they do online and how you can protect them. Keep computers and other mobile devices in a communal area so you can see what sites they’re visiting and they can share interesting sites with you.

Check if it's suitable? -  The age ratings that come with games, apps, films and social networks are a good guide to whether they’re suitable for your child. The minimum age limit is 13 for several social networking sites, including Facebook and Instagram. Visit https://www.commonsensemedia.org/ to find out age ratings and reviews of games, apps, movies and TV shows. 

We follow the 'SMART' rules:

For further advice, visit these useful websites -

• www.internetmatters.org                       
• www.childnet.com
• http://www.vodafone.com/content/parents.html
• www.net-aware.org.uk/
• www.thinkuknow.co.uk

For more information please see our Online Safety Policy