At Friars, we believe that the Internet provides many exciting opportunities for education, and learning how to use it is an important part of our pupil’s development. The online world is a fantastic place for young people to explore, with endless opportunities for learning and creativity, but just like the real world there are risks and dangers the children should be aware of and which we should help to protect them from. As a parent/carer you can play a substantial part in ensuring this.
We would like to highlight a few things that you can do to keep your children safe online at home:
- Ensure that any equipment children use to access the Internet (e.g. PCs, laptops, tablets, smartphones, games consoles, TVs etc) are kept in a family space, so that you can monitor their Internet usage.
- Make sure that all computer equipment (e.g. PCs, laptops, tablets, smartphones, games consoles, TVs etc) are fitted with parental controls. Contact your service provider (such as BT, Talk Talk, Sky, T-Mobile, Orange, Vodaphone etc) for more information.
- Set parental controls on your search engines (e.g. Google), YouTube and any mobile phones your child uses. Google have developed an extremely helpful website with information about how to stay safe and secure online. Please see the following link for further information: http://www.google.co.uk/goodtoknow/
Please be aware that no filter is 100% accurate. CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre) advise that you talk to your child about the sites they use. Here are some questions to get you started:
- Why do they like the site?
- What can you do on it?
- What’s so fun about it?
- Who uses it at school?
- Who do you talk to?
- Who are your friends on it?
You may wish to discuss the following with your child:
- Limits on the amount of time your child spends online, or playing computer games;
- Having regular screen breaks – at least five minutes every 45-60 minutes;
- Not sharing any pictures they wouldn’t be happy to share with you;
- NEVER giving out personal details, such as mobile phone number and address, to people they don’t know and trust.
- Coming to you if they are concerned. Or, if not, knowing where they can go for independent help and support.
Although, it might seem like the Internet is a scary and overwhelming place, the best way to keep children safe online is to use your common sense. Keep talking to your children about the Internet and just be aware of what they are doing.
Useful weblinks:
Keeping children safe online:
- www.childnet.com/parents-and-carers/need-help
- http://www.saferinternet.org.uk/
- http://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/share-aware/