We all love using the internet & we can now surf away on PCs, tablets, mobile phones & game consoles.  So when your child is left alone with an internet connection, are you certain that you’ve done all you can to keep your child safe?

“But my little Jimmy is *so* sensible!” is what we’re usually told by parents that are clueless as to why “Little Jimmy’s” laptop now only display pornographic pop-ups.

There are frightening statistics available – nearly ten years ago, nine out of ten children aged 8-16 had viewed pornography online, often in the process of doing homework (source, London School of Economics).  Since then the web has become much more accessible (via mobile phones and games consoles) and much more sophisticated.  Cyberbullying, sexting & grooming are now common parlance & the world uses Facebook & Twitter instead of telephone calls & SMS text messages.

Don’t panic!  February 7th is Safer Internet Day 2012 and we’ve got some advice to help you learn, understand and improve your awareness of online safety.

ThinkUKnow

We know that many parents struggle to understand the aspects of the internet.  A great resource is the Thinkuknow is an education initiative by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre – the UK’s national law enforcement agency that focuses on tackling the sexual abuse of children.  There are practical parental guides to help you and your children to use the internet safely on PCs, games consoles or mobile phones.  Here is there ‘Where’s Klaus’ video…

There are easy steps to take to keep your kids happy and safe. There are some great internet safety tips around, why not have a look at this page from Mumsnet

You don’t need to spend any money on parental control software for your PCs & laptops, one program that we’ve used with clients is K9 web protection – as recommended by Which? magazine.  It’s easy to setup (or we can help you do it.) and it’ll help you prevent access to websites you don’t wish your children to visit.  It even gives an audible warning if an attempt is made.

The Home Office have also produced a booklet entitled ‘KEEP YOUR CHILD SAFE ON THE INTERNET‘. This publication is currently available as a free pdf download which you can download from this link.

Don’t just stick your head in the sand – be security savvy! If you need help understanding anything, come and ask us, we’re happy to help.

Don’t forget….

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