DCC Online Safety advice for parents and carers during Covid 19
Parents and carers will want to make sure that their children are as safe as possible.
Parental Controls
Almost all devices allow parental controls to be set. These can be adjusted
depending on the ages of the children. They can:-
• Stop children putting new apps on a device until the parents approve them
• Reduce the chance of a child accidentally spending money on virtual goods
• Limit the time that children use a device without having a break
A good starting point is the internet matters website
https://www.internetmatters.org/ , go to the SETTING CONTROLS section at
the top!
Talking
Probably the best thing you can do to help your son or daughter is to talk to them
regularly about how they use technology, which apps and sites they use and who
their online friends are. Some children struggle with online relationships perhaps
either sending or receiving hurtful messages. Parents and carers will be able to help
guide youngsters through this difficult area. If children receive unpleasant messages
these can usually be reported and each app or site will have a different way of doing
this.
Apps and Sites
The list of apps and websites children are using grows by the minute so printed
advice is likely to be out of date. In the UK the NSPCC have a site called Net-Aware
https://www.net-aware.org.uk/ which explains many current apps, the risks and the
benefits of their use. More apps are listed on the American site Common Sense
Media https://www.commonsensemedia.org/
Activities for Children
https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/ is the website aimed at children and their parents
from the National Crime Agency. It has lots of useful suggestions and advice on how
to report issues. It also has games and activities including Jessie and Friends for the
younger children and Band Runner for the older ones.
For the youngest children being tricked into sharing pictures can be an issue. LGfL
have produced a lovely free video https://undressed.lgfl.net/ which has some great
advice and a very catchy song!
More Help?
Children can call Childline on 0800 1111 for advice on anything that is worrying
them.
Finally since 2015 is has been a criminal offence for an adult to send a message with
sexual content to a child (This is Section 67 of the Serious Crime Act 2015). If
you are concerned that this might have happened please contact The Police without
further using the device. This will help ensure that evidence can be preserved. The
Police can be contacted by phone or from the Thinkuknow website.
https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/
