The following advice and guidance is provided in association with Childnet.
The internet - always changing
Keeping up to date with children’s use of technology is challenging for many adults. It can be hard to supervise what young people are viewing and creating online, who they are chatting to and texting, and what they are downloading.
Many children may have better technical skills than you; however they still need advice and protection when using internet and mobile technologies.
This page is designed to help you to understand online safety issues and give you practical advice as you talk to your children so they can get the most out of the internet and use it positively and safely.
So what are the risks?
The risks for children when using the internet and mobile phones include inappropriate:
CONTACT: Potential contact from someone online who may wish to bully or abuse them.
It is important for children to remember that online friends may not be who they say they are, no matter how long they have been talking to them or how friendly they seem. Children must keep personal details private and agree not to meet unsupervised with anyone they have only contacted via the internet. It’s also important that you discuss with your child who they can report inappropriate conversations to and how.
CONTENT: Inappropriate material is available to children online.
Consider using filtering software and agree to ground rules about what services you are happy for your children to use. Give them strategies for dealing with any content they are not comfortable with – such as turning off the computer screen. There can also be legal consequences of copying copyrighted content. Young people need to be aware that plagiarising content and downloading copyrighted material without the author’s permission is illegal.
COMMERCIALISM: Young people’s privacy can be invaded by aggressive advertising and marketing schemes.
Encourage your children to keep their personal information private, learn how to delete pop-ups and block spam emails, and use a family email address when filling in online forms.
Can’t I just use a filter?
Filtering and monitoring software can help to block a lot of inappropriate material but they are not 100% effective and are no substitute for adult involvement and supervision. For instance mobile phone networks will filter the main web browser supplied on the phone but other apps like the Google App are not filtered.
So we have put together a collection of some great infographics for guides on what you can do to supervise your children's internet use.
More Parents Guides on Online Safety are available here