'Play your part for a better internet' - online safety advice

Today marks Safer Internet Day 2016, with the theme 'Play your part for a better internet'.

Coordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre, the celebration sees hundreds of organisations get involved to help promote the safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology for children and young people.

Cumbria Police is one such organisation which will be promoting internet safety. Schools also educate children how to stay safe online to protect children from exploitation and the harm of cyber bullying.

Child Safety Online: A practical guide for parents and carers

Work through safety and privacy features on the apps that your child is using, or might use. Make sure they understand the point of these and how to use them. Don’t be put off by believing your child knows more than you: the tools are quite easy to manage.

• Ask them to show you which social media apps they use and what they like about them. Talk about how they use them and what makes them so engaging. 

• Explain how you can use privacy settings to make sure only approved friends can see posts and images. 

• Check if any of their apps have ‘geo-location’ enabled, sharing their location unintentionally. 

• Show them how to report offensive comments or block people who upset them. 

• Check ‘tagging’ settings so that when others are posting or sharing photos online, your child’s identity is not revealed. Also, get people‘s consent before sharing photos. 

• Encourage your child to come and talk to you if they see anything that upsets them.

Keep talking and stay involved

In a mobile age, children can’t be completely protected, even by the best privacy controls; another child may use different settings. So it’s important to keep talking to your child about the implications of social media. 

Encourage your child to think carefully about the way they, and others behave online, and how they might deal with difficult situations.

• People may not always be who they say they are online: how can this create problems?

• Why is it unwise to meet anyone in the real world that you’ve only ever met online?

• Even if you think your messages are private, remember that words and images can always be captured and broadcast.

• People present themselves differently online - do they really look like that? Are they always having that good a time?

• Be aware that screens, and especially being anonymous, can lead people to say things they wouldn’t say to someone’s face.

• What does being a good friend and a likeable person online look like?

• There can be pressure to be part of a particular group online or to be seen to be following a certain set of ideas. How can you take a step back and make your own decisions?

Cumbria Police Detective Sergeant Clare Threadgould said: “Children and young people can have a better understanding of the technology than their parents and can often access social media sites and applications unsupervised. Parents therefore need to be aware of the signs that their child may be putting themselves at risk online, and look out for these.”

Top tips for online safety from Cumbria Police

• Stay up-to-date: ask about your child’s new gadgets, apps and websites. It is important to be aware of new technologies and developments that your child may be using.
• Set boundaries: treat the online world as you would the ‘real’ world. Consider what or who they may see, share and communicate with, as well as how long they spend online.
• Know what connects to the internet and how: today many technologies connect to the internet, including TVs and games consoles. Check how they are accessing the internet, if it is through a neighbour’s Wifi, your security settings may not be applied.
• Cyber-bullying: this can be very distressing and upsetting, talk to your child regularly about their experiences, both online and offline.