Keeping your child safe online - key points

• Set boundaries in the online world just as you would in the real world.
• Talk to your child about what they are up to online. Don’t leave them alone!
• Keep up-to-date with your child’s development online. How are they communicating with others online?
• Keep all equipment that connects to the internet in a family space.
• Know what connects to the internet and how.
• Use parental controls on devices that link to the internet, such as the TV, laptops, computers, games consoles and mobile phones.
• Lock down sites so that the information is not public.
• Obey age restrictions, particularly on social media sites.

See what the NSPCC has to say here!

Useful links:

Connected devices

There are so many connected devices on the market now, each with their own unique way of setting up parental controls and restrictions. Equally, the functionality of these devices can be daunting with chat, game downloads, in-app purchases, third party apps on the devices (such as social media, Netflix) etc.

Firstly, look up the device on YouTube using a simple 'how to' query e.g. 'how to restrict in-app purchases on Playstation 4'. Secondly, the wonderful people at Internet Matters have a one stop shop for setting up devices, which can be found here.

As well as devices, parents also need advice according to the age of their children. Again, Internet Matters has this covered for children aged 0-5, 6-10, 11-13 and 14+ here.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command (CEOP) have a nice, simple guide for parents to help with understanding gaming here.

National Online Safety Team Guides