Online safety links and advice

With children spending more time online to do schoolwork and other activities, there could be an additional risk.

It is important that you talk to your children about online safety, show an interest in what they are doing online, including knowing the sites they will be accessing and who your child is interacting with online. In talking to your children, you can discuss age-appropriate ‘ground rules’ such as how much time they spend online doing different things, what games and apps are appropriate to use and what your children like and dislike about being online.

You should also consider setting up and reviewing age-appropriate parental controls. Setting parental controls can be a quick and effective tool to help protect children online.

Here are some useful links to help you keep your children safe online:

• Government guidance on keeping children safe from online harms such as child sexual exploitation, cyberbullying and harmful content
• Government guidance on staying safe online including parental controls, fact-checking information, communicating with family and friends while social distancing is in place and taking regular breaks from the screen
• Thinkuknow is the education programme from the National Crime Agency (NCA) proving age-appropriate resources for children and support for parents
• Parent Info is a collaboration between Parentzone and the NCA providing support and guidance for parents from leading experts and organisations
• Childnet provides a tool kit to support parents and carers of children of any age to start discussions about their online life, to set boundaries around online behaviour and technology use, and to find out where to get more help and support
• Internet Matters provides age-specific online safety checklists, guides on how to set parental controls on a range of devices and a host of practical tips to help children get the most out of their digital world
• LGfL provides support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online, including 6 top tips to keep primary aged children safe online
• Net Aware provides support for parents and carers from the NSPCC and O2, providing a guide to social networks, apps and games
• Let’s Talk About It provides support for parents and carers to keep children safe from online radicalisation
• MASH - Bracknell Forest MASH is the single point of contact for all safeguarding concerns about children and young people living in Bracknell. They are a team of agencies who work together to make sure all safeguarding concerns about children are dealt with quickly and passed to the correct agency.  They can be contacted via: Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) | Bracknell Forest Council (bracknell-forest.gov.uk)

Parent online safety booklet

This guide will help you set up parental controls and adjust privacy settings to provide your child with a safer online environment. Parental controls can help to protect your child from seeing something that they shouldn’t — although it is important to emphasise that no system is effective all of the time, so it is important to engage with your child and talk to them about their online safety regularly:

https://www.knowsleyclcs.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Parental-Controls-booklet-2023.pdf 

Parent Port

http://www.parentport.org.uk/ or click the link below.

ParentPort is run by the UK’s media regulators. They set and enforce standards across the media to protect children from inappropriate material.

Seen or heard something unsuitable for children? Maybe it was a programme on TV or online, a film, an advert, a video game or something in a magazine. At ParentPort you can find out about the standards expected from the media, make a complaint and share your views.

Vodafone

http://www.vodafone.com/content/parents.html or click the link below.

Vodafone have created a special Digital Parenting magazine, available on their parents pages, alongside all sorts of advice, information and tips.

UK Safer Internet Centre

UK Safer Internet Centre provides tips, advice, guides and resources to help keep children safe online, including parental controls offered by home internet providers and safety tools on social networks and other online services.