It has been brought to my notice that some of our children are accessing inappropriate material online at home which they are then discussing in school causing extreme anxiety to others.
This includes:
- The 'Momo Challenge' which is available through you tube and features a grotesque cartoon character who tries to goad children to extreme violence.
- Tik Tok-which is an App rated 12+ but which has very inappropriate content not suitable for younger children
With this in mind I thought it would be useful to share the following advice with you.
The Internet can be an amazing tool to help children learn and play.
But with the digital world changing all the time, how can you make sure your child is safe?
Set up parental controls
· Parental controls can be used to block upsetting or harmful content, control in-app purchases or manage how long your child spends online
· The filters can help control what time of day your child can go online, and to stop them from downloading apps they are too young for
Talk to your children
· Have regular conversations about what your child is doing online
· Explore sites and apps together
· Talk about what personal information they should share online
· Create a family agreement about what behaviour is appropriate when they are online
Do your research
· Check through websites your child will use through the Net Aware
· Change privacy settings and turning off location sharing
If you need help now, you can phone experts on the free NSPCC & O2 helpline 0808 800 5002
