Posted on: February 14th 2014
In a world where our children are ‘digital natives’, it is imperative that both at school and at home children are taught about safe use of online services/social media and the responsibility that comes with having access to the world, literally at our fingertips.
This is something that needs to be kept high profile, and as well as Internet Safety Day (11th February 2014 this year), companies like CEOP are constantly supporting parents and schools by developing programs and tips to help with e-safety. It is estimated that only one in five parents has had a conversation with their children about internet and online safety and our aim is to raise awareness with parents to reinforce what we are talking about at school. There are many resources that support parents in discussing these issues with their children:
In the meantime, here are some basic tips about talking to your child about online safety. Even though some of it is geared towards older children, the advice is really useful guidance for the kind of things that are encountered, which in itself raises awareness:
1. Talk to your child about their favourite websites. Starting a conversation on a positive foot can lead nicely into a chat about online safety.2. If your child loves to use social networking sites, teach them about protecting their personal information by thinking about what they are sharing and who they are sharing it with. Show them how to use privacy settings, and how to block and report – and advise them to only accept friend requests from people they know in real life.
3. Remind your child that showing respect for others online is just as important as showing it offline. Encourage them to think before they post and encourage them to show positive behaviour online.
4. There are lots of ways you can advise your child about cyberbullying, if they are worried remind them to save the evidence and to always tell an adult they trust if something upsets them online.
5. There are ways in which you can help to prevent your child from seeing inappropriate content online. Have you considered parental controls and filtering in your home and also on your children’s portable internet enabled devices?