Five ways to keep your children safe online

Did you know today is Safer Internet Day? Here are five ways to keep your children safe online

As a parent or guardian of very young children, internet safety might not yet be on your radar; but it should be. With the increasing popularity of apps and with internet use among children, it is likely that online safety is an issue you will come across soon. And if you have school-age children then it is something you should be aware of and potentially start discussing with them as soon as possible.

So it might interest you to know that today is Safer Internet Day, set up by the UK Safer Internet Centre to promote the safe and responsible use of technology for young people.

Here's five ways to keep your children online, with advice from the Department for Education and UK Safer Internet Centre:

One: Have an open and honest dialogue with children about staying safe online

Two: Encourage them to tell you which sites they might be using and talk to you about anything they see online

Three: Set boundaries and make an agreement on what they can and cannot do online. If the agreement is broken, restrict internet access for an agreed period of time

Four: Read up on information available through schools and official sites, such as ParentInfo, to make sure you are aware of issues and armed with information

Five: Arm your children with advice. Here's some suggestions:

• Be careful what you say online. Respect others and do not retaliate or reply to offending e-mails, text messages or online conversations – leave the conversation
• Be careful what pictures or videos you upload. Once a picture is shared online it cannot be taken back
• Only add people you know and trust to friends/followers lists online

If you are a parent of school-age children, you might be wondering what schools are doing about internet safety:

• The new computing curriculum includes internet safety at each key stage. Schools are also able to teach e-safety during PSHE lessons and every school is required by law to have measures in place to prevent all forms of bullying including cyber-bullying
• The computing curriculum covers e-safety at all four key stages, and was developed with input from e-safety experts including Childnet, NSPCC and the UK Safer Internet Centre
• Schools are also able to teach e-safety during PSHE lessons and every school is required by law to have measures in place to prevent all forms of bullying including cyber-bullying.The computing curriculum covers e-safety at all four key stages, and was developed with input from e-safety experts including Childnet, NSPCC and the UK Safer Internet Centre
• The computing curriculum covers e-safety at all four key stages, and was developed with input from e-safety experts including Childnet, NSPCC and the UK Safer Internet Centre
• In addition to this, teachers across the UK have access to resources equipping teachers to help protect children and young people from inappropriate online content, and from online bullying, harassment and exploitation.

More advice is available on the Safer Internet Day website.

Make sure you also read our posts on beating the after-school blues and school organisation tips for parents