As the internet takes an increasingly larger role in our lives, it is important to start educating children young on both the benefits and dangers of being online. At Angels, we take steps to ensure that children have limited and constantly supervised access to the internet whilst in our care. We also aim to educate them on the internet, but this must continue at home too.
The best way to keep them safe online is to have regular open conversations with them. By doing this, there is an open dialogue between you that children can use to bring any concerns that they may be having to you. This also means that your child is aware of the internet and what they are allowed to do.
As well as educating them about what they do online, it is important to keep track of what they are doing online. This can be done by either talking to them and asking, or using some parental settings on the devices that your child has access to. Both options ensure that you are able to keep up with what your child is exposed to, and have conversations with them about whether or not that content is appropriate or not.
It is also important to use device and privacy settings to restrict the content that your child is allowed to consume. Making sure that they can’t access things such as social media websites is important for the privacy and safety of your child. By restricting access on the devices your child uses, you can ensure that they are only digesting appropriate content.
Another way to monitor what your child is doing is to not allow them unsupervised on devices such as tablets, phones, or computers. This is particularly important at a young age as limiting screen time is also recommended.
There are a lot of useful resources for parents and carers who are interested in learning more about online safety for children. The NSPCC is linked below:
