Children all over the country will be opening much wanted gifts this Christmas – the latest phone, a cool new tablet or laptop. But how can you try to ensure they are safe online?
Children and teenagers are often far more tech savvy than us parents, but their lack of life experience can make them vulnerable, however much they profess to know. One in eight 12-15 year-olds experiences cyber bullying, while numbers being groomed online are also growing. So what follow a few basic tips to help keep them more safe.
Check parental controls
Digital devices usually come with parental controls that you can enable. Popular children’s online games, such as Roblox, also tend to give parents a choice of settings. You can prevent your child from accessing certain features, for example. You may want to adjust the settings so that your child can’t chat to strangers, and regularly check your child’s list of friends to make sure they haven’t added people they don’t know in real life.
Talk to your child
Ask your child to show you what they do when they’re playing their favourite digital games. You might also want to set up your own account, so you can explore a game to see whether there’s anything that concerns you.
Make sure your child understands that they should never send photos to people they meet online, or give out personal details, such as their real name, email address or school name. Talk to your child about how easy it is for people to lie when they’re online. Ensure your child knows that they can come to you if they experience anything that makes them feel uncomfortable, without you getting cross.
Social media
Most social media sites only allow accounts to be set up by people aged 13 and up. However, they don’t require proof of age, so it’s down to parents to enforce the rules. Messaging apps and social media are useful for keeping in touch with friends but can be exploited by bullies and predators. Again, talk to your child about how to stay safe. You might want to help your teen set up their privacy controls and discuss what they should do if they’re trolled or contacted by someone they don’t know.
Setting limits
Most tablets allow you to set a limit for how many hours they can be used for each day. It’s more difficult to set time limits for older children, however, who may need to use laptops or tablets to do their homework. At the very least, you may want to agree times that your child isn’t allowed to use devices, such as meal times.
Further info
For guidance on keeping children safe online, check out net-aware.org.uk and saferinternet.org.uk.
internetmatters.org can advise what to do if your child is bullied online.
O2/NSPCC’s online safety advice line on 0808 8005002 can help you to set up privacy settings.