Inclusion & Engagement
ESafety Commissioner -Online Safety Tips
School-age children like going online to look at videos, create videos, play games and connect with friends and family. They might also be using the internet for schoolwork, homework or hobbies. School-age children can go online using computers, mobile phones, tablets, watches, TVs and other internet-connected devices, including toys.
Because school-age children are starting to be independent online and might go online unsupervised, there are more online safety risks for them than there are for younger children. There are particular risks if your child goes online to communicate with others – for example, on messaging apps or in games.
You can help your child learn to be safe online. You can also take practical online safety precautions. This will protect your child from online safety risks. And it will also help your child make the most of learning, exploring, creating and connecting with others online.
Parent Controls
- Parental controls can help keep children and young people safer online by preventing access to harmful content, managing time spent online and limiting who they communicate with.
- To be most effective, parental controls need to be set up on all devices your child accesses connected to the internet, such as phones, laptops, tablets, gaming consoles and smart TVs.
- They should be reviewed and updated regularly. It’s also important that controls are set on devices your child may access while in the care of others (such as other family members and friends).
- Parental controls are most effective when used alongside supervision and other online safety strategies.
What are parental controls?
Parental controls are software tools that allow you to monitor and limit what your child sees and does online.
They can be set up to:
- Block your child from accessing specific websites, apps or functions (like using a device’s camera, or the ability to buy things).
- Filter different kinds of content, such as ‘adult’ or sexual content, content that may promote self-harm, eating disorders, violence, drugs, gambling, racism or terrorism.
- Limit who can communicate with your child as well as manage the apps they can use to communicate with others.
- Allow you to monitor your child’s use of connected devices, with reports on the sites they visit and the apps they use, how often and for how long.
- Set time limits, blocking access after a specific length of time.
If a device or program is shared by multiple members of your family, you should be able change the settings to reflect each user’s age, maturity and skills.
Building online safety habits
Parental controls can be a useful part of your online safety approach. However, it is best they are used as part of a range of methods to keep your child safe. Both abusers and children themselves can find ways around parental controls, so consider what else you can do.
Other ways to help keep your child safer online include:
- talking with them about what they like to do online, as well as the risks involved, and how to be safer
- making sure their online activities are supervised, especially for younger children
- joining in their online activities when you can
- being aware of who they are connecting with online
- teaching them to follow the steps for reporting online abuse.