What might they see online?
Whilst there are many benefits and positive ways children can use online spaces, there are also potential harms, like the risk they may see something inappropriate.
What is inappropriate?
Inappropriate content includes anything intended for audiences over 18 years old, or showing dangerous or illegal behaviour.
Here are some examples:
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Violence. This is often content intended for adults. It can include graphic gaming content, real-life news stories or scenes which show images of cruelty to people or animals.
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Sexual content. This includes adult nudity and sexual activity such as programmes/videos made for adults and pornography. In online gaming this could also include sexual themes, chats and messages.
- Self-harm or suicide. This can include distressing material about depression and suicide. It also includes images that show self-harm or encourage children to harm themselves.
Illegal content
Some content children and young people see online can also be against the law. For example:
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Nude or semi-nude images of under 18 year olds.
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Content which promotes terrorism or extremism. Some extreme or terrorist groups spread online content designed to radicalise vulnerable people.
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Online harassment. This is when someone, on more than one occasion, behaves in a way intended to cause distress or alarm to another person. For example, offensive name calling, purposeful embarrassment, physical threats, stalking and sexual harassment.
Inappropriate content may also include anything that is not developmentally appropriate for your child’s age, stage or needs. For example, a game or video that may be deemed age appropriate for one child, may frighten or upset another. You know your child best and what is inappropriate or potentially upsetting or scary for them to see.
Inappropriate content may be in the form of adverts, pop-ups, pictures, videos, messages or posts.
What can I do?
1. Check the age requirements. There are minimum age requirements for most online platforms. This includes apps, games and social media platforms. Whilst your child may want to join at a younger age, following the minimum age requirements lowers the risk of them seeing inappropriate content online.
2. Set Parental controls. Most online services have parental controls/filters to help you manage the content your child may see. Some services let you set up child accounts so content can be automatically filtered, or you can choose what content your child can view. Read more about setting up parental controls or visit Internet Matters for guidance on setting up parental controls.
3. Talk to them about:
What they might see
Explain, especially to younger children, what is meant by the word ‘inappropriate’. You should use language they will understand, for example:
- Something that you didn’t like or want to see
- People fighting or using swear words
- Anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, worried, scared or sad
Help them understand that sometimes they may come across things that they’d prefer not to see, or that you would prefer they didn’t see. Talk to them about what to do if this happens.
Safe searching
Remember, no matter what you've told them, children will be curious. They might search for content they don’t understand, find funny or are too embarrassed to talk to you about. For younger children you can give extra protection from inappropriate content by using a child-safe search engine like Swiggle.
What to do if they see something they didn’t want to
Children may worry that an adult will over-react or take their devices away if they disclose something inappropriate they’ve seen online. This may lead to them feeling reluctant to speak up if something upsets them online. Reassure your child that should this ever happen, they can come to you with any concerns or questions they may have.
Know the practical steps to take should your child see something in appropriate online and talk about them together so you know how you’d handle the situation if it happened:
Children and young people
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Turn it off.
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Tell an adult.
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Don’t share it.
Parents and carers
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Speak to them. Encourage your child to speak to you. They may have questions about what they have seen and need to discuss these with a trusted adult.
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Block and report on platform. Help your child to block a user or report inappropriate content on the platform they are they are using. For guidance on how to block and report on many popular social media platforms, visit Internet Matters here.
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Report outside platform. If a child or young person is in immediate danger, please call 999. Alternatively, harmful content, including violence and threats, can be reported online at Report Harmful Content.