What can you do?
The first step is to find out more about what your child may encounter online. You might want to know why young people access online pornography or send naked selfies, and at what point you should be concerned.
Knowing the facts, understanding the risks, learning where to get help and, most importantly, recognising young people’s motivations can help you feel more confident in starting that all important ongoing conversation with your child.
Practical steps such as setting up parental controls or changing privacy settings for an app are important actions you can take to help keep your child safe. But remember, no control or filter alone can ever be guaranteed to protect your child.
The most important thing you can do to build your child’s – and your own – confidence and resilience against online risk is to have open and ongoing conversations about relationships and sex with your child and to make sure they know that you will always give them calm and non-judgmental support.
For further advice, guidance and support tools, explore our parents site to best support your child growing up online.
The first step is to find out more about what your child may encounter online. You might want to know why young people access online pornography or send nude selfies, and at what point you should be concerned.
Knowing the facts, understanding the risks, learning where to get help and, most importantly, recognising young people’s motivations can help you feel more confident in starting that all important ongoing conversation with your child.
Practical steps such as setting up parental controls or changing privacy settings for an app are important actions you can take to help keep your child safe. But remember, controls and filters are only one part of digital parenting.
The most important thing you can do to build your child’s – and your own – confidence and resilience against online risk is to have open and ongoing conversations about sex and relationships with your child and to make sure they know that you will always give them calm and non-judgmental support.
For further advice, guidance and support tools, explore our parents site to best support your child growing up online.