ONLINE SAFETY NEWSLETTER FOR PARENTS AND CARERS

Hi Parents,

Welcome to the first online safety newsletter.

Online safety is a extremely important part of your children’s lives

both in school and out of school. In school we do everything possi-

ble to keep your children safe in everything they do include their

use of technology. At home they also need support when discover-

ing the Internet. This newsletter is designed to help you with this

and give you tips on how to keep your children safe.

A primary school in Strood was in the news recently because one of

their children was being groomed online. Grooming is when people

are approached online, first of all, in an innocent way and are

shown interest and flattery until the person trusts them at which

point they then manipulate them for their own demands. Most of

the time it is sexual but people can be groomed for other reasons

such as drug trafficking. This is one of many reasons why it is im-

portant to keep your children safe when exploring the online world.

This newsletter contains some tips which you can use to create a

safe environment at home for Internet use.

A lot of games have to be installed before use on desktops, laptops, tablets and phones. Therefore it is advisable to have rules in place that permission is sought before in-stalling anything. Newly installed games will appear as new icons on the screen.

When you are asked if it is okay to install a new game you can check it out first online.

Once you know a bit more about the game you can risk assess if you feel that it is safe to install.

Helpful Tip

Agree rules for internet use

Try to reach an agreement with your child on the guide-

lines which apply to Internet use in your household. Here

are some tips to get started:

1. Discuss when and for how long it is acceptable for your

child to use the Internet

2. Agree how to treat personal information (name, ad-

dress, telephone, e-mail)

3. Discuss how to behave towards others when gaming,

chatting, e-mailing or messaging

4. Agree the types of websites and activities that are okay

or not okay in your family

5. Follow the rules yourself! Or at least explain why the

rules are different for adults.

Encourage your child to be careful

when disclosing personal information

A simple rule for younger children should be that the child

should not give out their name, phone number or photo

without your approval. Older children using social net-

working sites like Facebook should be encouraged to be

selective about what personal information and photos

they post to online spaces. Regardless of privacy settings,

once material is online you can no longer control who sees

it or how it is used.

Talk about the risks associated with

meeting online “friends” in person

Adults should understand that the Internet can be a posi-

tive meeting place for children, where they can get to

know other young people and make new friends. Howev-

er, for safety and to avoid unpleasant experiences, it is

important that children do not meet strangers they have

met online without being accompanied by an adult you

trust. In any case, the child should always have their par-

ents’ approval first. In addition, it is also a good idea to

have a fail-safe plan in place such as calling them shortly

after the meeting begins so that they can bail out if they

feel uncomfortable.

Teach your child about evaluating

information and being critically aware

of information found online

Most children use the Internet to improve and develop

their knowledge in relation to schoolwork and personal

interests. Children should be aware that not all infor-

mation found online is correct, accurate or relevant. Show

your child how to check information they find by compar-

ing it to alternative sources on the same topic. Show them

trusted sites they can use to compare information.

Let your children show you what

they like to do online

To be able to guide your child with regard to internet use,

it is important to understand how children use the Internet

and know what they like to do online. Let your child show

you which websites they like visiting and what they do

there.

Remember that the positive aspects

of the Internet outweigh the negatives

The Internet is an excellent educational and recreational

resource for children. Encourage your child to make the

most of it and explore the Internet to its full potential.

For more information about how to keep your children

safe online visit this website:

http:/www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-centre/parents-and-carers

Discover the Internet together

Be the one to introduce your child to the Internet. For

both parent and child, it is an advantage to discover the

online world together. Try to find websites that are ex-

citing and fun so that together you achieve a positive atti-

tude to internet exploration. This could make it easier to

share both positive and negative experiences in the future.

Gaming devices directly connect children to the Internet and other players. Fortunately, most gaming devices have parental controls and safety settings. These settings allow restricted access, restricted audio chat use, and allow the choice of whom to play. Check the game man-ual or the manufacturers website for help and support with parental controls and safety settings.

Check out the gaming console box on this web page https://www.internetmatters.org/parental-controls/gaming-consoles/

Helpful Tip