Keeping your child safer online
Safer Internet Day takes place this week on Feb 9th. As the time that children spend online grows, here are some top tips and activities for keeping them safe - and for helping them to keep their time spent online and offline in balance.
If you don't have much time...
If, like for many parents at the moment, time is short, then we recommend these three key things to keep children safer online:
- Check the settings on all devices that your children use - see the NSPCC's comprehensive guide on how to do this.
- Aim for a balance of activities including time in the day when children have a break from screen time. Harold's Daily Diary has lots of non-screen ideas for younger children.
- Talk to your child about safety. Explain that if something they experience online makes them confused or just feels wrong, then they need to tell you about it straight away.
Useful Resources
Explore the Safer Internet Day 2021 resources.
Read CEOP Parents' and Carers' help sheets. There is one for primary-age children.
These contain key online safety advice and links to our resources, as well as support services.
You can also read the government guidance about this.
Here are more resources to help...
Internet Matters – a useful tool showing how to set parental controls across a range of devices and websites.
Parent Info – expert information for parents about digital family life.
Things I’m learning about…
How to keep myself safe online.
Things I can think about…
- What can I do to keep safe online?
- When do I need to ask permission?
- What should I do if I see something scary online?
Things I can do…
If you are age 5 or under, these will be great for you! Click here!
If you are age 5 to 7, these will be great for you! Click here!
If you are age 8 or older, these will be best for you! Click here!
Message for parents and carers.... CEOP are regularly updating their resources, providing a wide range of activities to support safer online use. Just click on these links and you'll get to choose from them. You might want to start with the first and work through them.
SCARF values I thought about...
Which of the SCARF values did the activities include?
You can point to these, or if you're making a SCARF journal you can write them down and tick those you did. There's no right or wrong answer! It's up to you to decide!
Safety
Caring
Achievement
Resilience
Friendship
If you liked this, try this...
Make a Staying Safe Online poster or manual with some top tips for helping other children to stay safe online. Try adding pictures and bright colours to help get their attention. You could share your top tips with friends or others in your family!
About SCARF at Home activities
Information for parents and carers before you start using the SCARF at Home activities
Your child's school is sharing some activities with you to help keep children happy and healthy while they're at home. The activities support children's PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) education and have been provided by the UK's largest children's charity specialising in children's health and wellbeing, Coram Life Education and SCARF.
Coram Life Education and SCARF help schools to teach children valuable life skills needed to keep them happy, healthy and safe.
