How to keep yourself and your family safe online.

You can make sure your child is safe online by using technical parental controls and creating your own rules. Rules should cover things like which websites they can visit and how long they can spend online. You should also stress the importance of keeping personal information safe.
Computers and other digital technologies like games consoles and mobile phones have parental controls.  These let you do things like:

• block selected websites and email addresses by adding them to a filter list
• set time limits for use
• prevent your child from searching certain words

Contact your Internet service provider or mobile phone operator to find out about any child safety measures they offer.  BT’s security package is called BT Family Protection and is very comprehensive.  Parental Controls are part of Virgin Media Security and are available for free to all Virgin Media broadband customers.  

Parental controls and software will never make the Internet 100% safe. They should not be used as a substitute for communicating safety messages to your child.  Make sure that you talk to your child about their behaviour online and remember, your home is not the only place they will be accessing the Internet!

It’s a really good idea to include your child to set rules for their Internet use. Being involved will help them understand the dangers and give them a sense of responsibility. It will also let them know what kind of websites you think are suitable.  You can monitor your child’s Internet use by checking the history folder as it contains a list of previously visited sites- though many children are aware of being checked on and will delete everything before you can see it!

It is easier to control Internet use if the computer is in a family room rather than in a bedroom.  It is better if the screen faces inwards so that you can see what is going on. You can use child friendly search engines:  http://www.wisekids.org.uk/Kids_safe_search_engines.htm

Make sure you are using a firewall, a good Internet security program  and regular spyware to be on the safe side.  It is important that that your child does not download files without permission as this is the way that viruses can infect your computer.

It’s important your child realises that people online might not be who they say they are and could be dangerous. They should also be aware that any personal information they give out can be used in financial scams or for bullying.

To keep your child safe you should tell them not to:

• give out personal information to people they only know online - this includes name, home address, school, landline and mobile numbers, bank details, PIN numbers and passwords
• supply details for registration without asking for permission and help from you
• visit chat websites that aren’t fully moderated/supervised
• arrange to meet an online friend in person without your knowledge and permission (if you agree to let them, you should always go along with them)
• give any indication of their age or sex in a personal email address or screen name
• keep anything that worries or upsets them online secret from you
• respond to unwanted emails or other messages 

When using social media sites, make sure that the strongest privacy settings are set, and make sure that only friends can see what is posted.  Make sure your child is very careful about what images and messages they post, even among trusted friends – once they are online they can be shared widely and are extremely difficult to get removed.  This could be a source of embarrassment in years to come.  

I hope that if you are concerned, that you research the subject further online.  

This is a very helpful website:  www.thinkuknow.co.uk.   

Much of this article came from http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/keeping-children-safe-online.   

For a wonderfully comprehensive article on the subject do read:

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/aug/11/how-to-keep-kids-safe-online-children-advice.