Top 10 internet safety tips for parents of young children
Safer Internet Day 2017 will take place on Tuesday 7th February with the theme 'Be the change: unite for a better internet'.
Here at KUB we believe that there is nothing more important than keeping your little ones safe and that includes online safety. As a parent or carer you play an instrumental role in helping your child to stay safe online. According to Ofcom four in ten children aged 3-4 use a tablet computer at home and one in five go online. For younger children, being vigilant is just as important. Babies and toddlers can quite easily accidentally search inappropriate content by being over enthusiastic near a laptop and pressing keys or end up watching an unsuitable video on YouTube.
You don’t need to be an expert on the internet to help keep your child stay safe on the internet and here are some of our top tips!
- Put a code onto your laptop or tablet to stop your child accidentally finding something inappropriate online or deleting one of your most important documents! Make sure it is one that slightly older children don’t know as well!
- Check what your service provider will provide you with. Your internet service provider (such as BT or TalkTalk) will provide free filters to help block age inappropriate content for children although they require you to set this up yourself.
- Filter options within websites and services themselves can be employed. For instance, on YouTube make sure you use ‘restricted mode’.
- Block pop-ups. If you’re worried about your children accessing inappropriate content though accidentally clicking on adverts, find advice on how to stop pop-ups from BBC Webwise.
- Be vigilant! Just because your child is watching Peppa Pig online don’t assume that it is okay! YouTube is great for many things but you may easily end up with something that isn’t for baby’s eyes/ears despite any filters imposed on the site! Filter options are not 100% effective all the time.
- Always watch a video first before letting your baby watch it. Also, always uncheck ‘YouTube Autoplay’ so that your child is only watching videos you have specifically chosen.
- Make sure that you turn on ‘safe search’ settings on search engines such as Google or Bing. Look for the cogwheel “settings” symbol where you will find the options for each provider. This can stop accidental typing discovering content that is not age appropriate.
- The best way to keep your family safe online is to use the internet together. For children slightly older, it is a good idea to look for family activities and games to include everyone in the fun and also will teach your child how to use the internet.
- Take time to do your own exploring of the games and services that your children are using, or would like to use. Make sure to look out for any safety features that may be available. Also, talk to other parents about their experiences with different games and websites.
- Try Kid Friendly websites such as YouTube Kids or CBeebies iPlayer. These websites give your family an easy way to watch their favourite programmes or explore anything that captures their imagination.