Online safety during Covid 19
- One of the most important ways to keep your children safe online is to talk with them.
- It is so important that your child knows you care about their safety online and that you understand there are risks.
- By talking openly with your child about the risks you can help them learn to be safe independently.
How to help 4-7 years olds to be safe online:
- Explore together: Ask your child to show you their favourite websites and apps and what they do on them. Listen and show interest and encourage them to teach you the basics of the site or app.
- Initiate (and continue) conversations about online safety: Ask them if anything ever bothers or worries them while they’re online. You could use examples of events from the animations and ask if they’ve experienced anything similar. Reinforce the key message: if anything happens online which makes them feel worried, scared or sad, the best thing to do is talk to you or another adult who they trust.
- Help your child identify adults who can help: Help your child identify trusted adults from different areas of their life such as at home or at school.
- Be non-judgemental: Explain that you would never blame them for anything that might happen online, and you will always give them calm and loving support.
- Supervise your child while they’re online: Keep the devices your child uses in communal areas of the house such as in the living room or kitchen where an appropriate adult is able to supervise. It is not safe for 4-7 year olds to access the internet unsupervised in private spaces, such as alone in a bedroom or bathroom.
- Talk to your child about how their online actions can affect others: If your child is engaging with others online remind them to consider how someone else might feel before they post or share something. If they are considering sharing a photo or video of somebody else, they should always ask permission first.
- SafeSearch: The use of ‘SafeSearch’ is highly recommended for use with young children. Most web search engines will have a ‘SafeSearch’ function, which will allow you to limit the content your child is exposed to whilst online. Look out for the ‘Settings’ button on your web browser homepage (often shaped like a small cog).
- Parental controls: Make use of the parental controls available on your home broadband and any internet-enabled device in your home. You can learn more by reading our article on using parental controls.
How to help 8 – 11 years old be safe online:
Here are some useful conversation starters and practical activities to help you talk to your child about staying safe online:
- Ask your child about the games, sites and apps they like to use. What do they like about them? Is there anything they don’t like?
- If your child enjoys playing games where they interact with people they don’t know, make sure they understand that it is not safe to share personal information like their name, school, and phone number with people they meet in the game. Explain that if anyone says anything that worries or upsets them, they should tell you or another trusted adult straight away.
- Help your child manage the privacy settings on their apps to ensure that they are only sharing things with friends they know and trust in real life. If your child likes sharing photos or videos with people they know in real life discuss safer ways they could do this e.g. sending via email, messaging service or private link.
- Find out how to block and report someone in each game, site and app they use and discuss with your child.
- Tell your child that they can come to you if something goes wrong online, that they won’t be in trouble and you will be able to help.
The Internet is an increasingly important factor in every day life and children are spending more and more time online. Teaching our pupils to use the internet safely, securely and to get as much out of it as they can is an important part of the curriculum at Newby. To help parents, carers and volunteers reinforce that leaning we have compiled this list of handy resources.
Thinkuknow
Thinkuknow has been developed by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre and provides appropriate advice tailored for specific age groups as well as information for parents, carers, teachers and trainers. Click on the following links to learn more.
Children, School and Families
The following websites give information about how to keep your child safe when using the internet, computer
games and social media sites.
https://parentalcontrols-on.org/ – This is a brilliant site that helps parents to set controls on all the devices in a home
http://ourpact.com/ – Our Pact. A parental control app for phones
www.ESRB.org/index-js.jsp – ESRB- Entertainment Software Rating Board
www.pegi.info/en/index – PEGI Ratings – The Pan–European Game Information
http://support.xbox.com/en-gb/pages/xbox-live/how-to/parental-control.aspx – Xbox – safer gamer tips
http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/basicoperations/parentallock.html – PS3 Parental control settings.
http://www.childnet.com/resources – E-safety resources
https://saferinternet.org.uk/advice-centre/parents-and-carers – UK Safer Internet Centre
http://www.vodafone.com/content/parents.html – Vodafone Digital Parenting Site
http://vodafonedigitalparenting.co.uk/ – You can view the superb Vodafone Digital Parenting site here. You can also download a copy of the magazine.
http://www.o2.co.uk/help/nspcc – O2 Digital Family. The internet is like a magician’s hat. And if you’re worried what your kids will find inside, our free advice will help you keep them safe online.
https://en-gb.facebook.com/safety – Facebook Family Safety Centre
https://www.net-aware.org.uk/networks/ – Netaware Social Media Guide from the NSPCC
https://kids.youtube.com/ – YouTube Kids – A safe way for young children to use YouTube
Everyschool Online Resources
Everyschool provide free to use educational resources to reinforce the safety message to younger children. Suitable for ages 5-7 years / Key Stage One.
CBBC Stay Safe
CBBC Stay Safe is a collection of resources, information and exercises direct from the BBC to help your children stay safe online using some of the most popular characters from CBBC shows.
CEOP
Has something happened online that has made you feel worried or unsafe? Make a report to one of CEOP’s Child Protection Advisors using the link below:
http://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/
CEOP’s YouTube page has lots of useful guides including how to report a post to Facebook, a video to YouTube and a web site to the Internet Watch Foundation.
https://www.youtube.com/user/ceop
Common Sense Media
This site is particularly useful for finding out about games, apps and films that your child may want to watch or play. Search for a game and you will see a comprehensive description of what the game involves, who it is suitable for and any inappropriate content it may contain.