Children and young people may enjoy going online for lots of reasons – chatting with friends, learning new things, having fun. Whatever your child enjoys doing online, you can help them be safer by thinking about these three areas:
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Viewing (what can my child see?)
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Sharing (what can my child share or be sent?)
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Chatting and friending (who can my child interact with and how?)
1. Viewing
Being online is a public and open place, where anybody can post and share things. Unfortunately, children could come across inappropriate, sexual or violent content online.
What to think about:
- Use privacy and security settings on apps, sites, and games.
- Encourage your child to report and block inappropriate content on the platform*.
- Discuss what apps and sites you are happy for them to use. Consider if and when your child is ready for social media.
*Illegal content should not only be reported to the platform but also to the police. Illegal content is anything that shows a crime being committed, including child sexual abuse material.
2. Sharing
Children can share lots of things online, including photos , videos, livestreams and their views . Talking together about what they share, who with and making the most of security settings can help better protect them.
How to help your child with sharing:
- Consider having a regular review of what your child has shared online, helping them to think about if there are any posts they’d like to delete. You could do this together, reviewing your own posts too.
- Help them to set up ‘close friends’ lists and consider what posts they share only with a limited audience, such as family and friends.
3. Chatting and friending
Chatting and making friends online can be fun, but it can also come with potential risks of harm, such as exposure to harmful conversations.
How to help your child with chatting and friending:
- Encourage them to chat only with people they know offline.
- Use app settings to help control who can contact them.
- Talk regularly about their online interactions.
- Let them know they can talk to you if any conversations online make them upset or worried. Help them to block and report, when needed.
Why not use our social media home safety activity sheet? This includes conversation starters and a fun family task, helping you to talk and learn together about safer social media use.