The internet is an integral part of children’s lives. It opens up many educational and social opportunities, giving them access to a world of information and experiences.
As you would protect your child in the real world, you will want to make sure that they are safe whatever they are doing. Like learning to cross the road, online safety skills are skills for life. If your child understands the risks and can make sensible and informed choices online, they can get the most from the internet and stay safe whilst doing so – particularly from those people who might seek them out to harm them. The internet hosts many exciting opportunities for education and the online world is a wonderful place for young people to explore, with unprecedented opportunities for learning and creativity, but just like the real world there are risks and dangers they should be aware of and which we should all act to protect them from.
As an Academy, we encourage the use of technology as an important part of our students’ development but always want them to spend their time online safely. As parents/guardians, to help them stay safe, it’s important that you understand how your son/daughter uses the internet.
The following tips have been researched from ‘thinkuknow’ and may help you.
It is a really good idea to have a conversation with your son/daughter about staying safe online. Here are a few ideas to help you get started:
For more information you may wish to click on the following link for a very good ‘Parents Guide to Technology’, produced by the UK Safer Internet Centre.
Parents Guide to Technology
Sexting
As a parent, it is important to understand the risks of sexting (an increasingly common activity among children and young people where they share inappropriate or explicit images online or through mobile phones). The NSPCC have published advice for parents about talking to your child about creating, sending or receiving explicit images so that you can talk to your child about how to stay safe and what to do if they ever feel scared or uncomfortable.
Just click on the following link to access the NSPCC’s advice pages:
Sexting – NSPCC
The major internet providers in the UK – BT, Sky, and Virgin Media – have produced short video tutorials that will show you how to download and set up the parental controls they provide for their customers to manage internet access in the home. To view these, click below