How to Keep Your Family Safe Online: A Practical Digital Safety Guide for Parents

How to Keep Your Family Safe Online: A Practical Digital Safety Guide for Parents

If you’re allowing your children access to the internet, then you’ll want to take a few reasonable precautions. These will ensure that they’re safe from the threats that lurk online, both now and as they get older. The world of technology is constantly changing, and it seems almost inevitable that future generations will find themselves surrounded by it. So, how can we prepare them for that world?

Understanding the Latest UK Online Safety Changes

In the UK, there has been an attempt to offer greater protection through legislation. The Online Safety Act and its recent upgrades aim to protect children and other users from content that could be viewed as illegal or harmful. Additionally, the Act requires companies to implement age verification and block underage access to specific content.

However, this protection isn’t flawless, and not every harmful site will comply. Plus, there is always the risk of children receiving harmful messages and accessing content through seemingly benign channels, like gaming platforms.

Getting the best from this new law means being aware of the changes, and their potential impact on your child’s use of the internet.

Setting Up Safe Devices and Accounts for Kids

When setting up accounts, if left solely to children, chances are they won’t be set up to ensure maximum safety, so it’s important you are involved in the process. Take a look at each account’s settings and ensure simple things like the account is private and there’s no access to inappropriate content. Some device and account settings contain hidden parental control settings, which can be configured to offer greater protection.

Tech companies are continually tightening their protections, so make sure that you stay on top of the options. In some cases, additional protection might come in the form of specialised software. For example, if you’re an avid Apple user, a free VPN for mac will allow you to connect via an encrypted tunnel, reducing the risk of cyber attacks. Make sure that you set the software up so that it can’t be exploited by tech-savvy kids.

Talking to Children About Online Risks (in a Calm, Non-Scary Way)

Configuring hardware and software is always worthwhile, but it shouldn’t represent the full extent of your interventions. You’ll also want to continuously communicate with your children, in an age-appropriate way, so that they’re aware of the risks that come with internet use, and how those risks might be mitigated.

You don’t need to spell everything out for them. Use relatable terms and analogies, and make sure that they feel comfortable approaching you if they see anything on the internet that makes them feel scared or confused.

Practical Tools to Help Keep Kids Safe (Apps, Filters & Household Rules)

Of course, even if your child’s use of the internet is completely free of harmful content, you will still want to limit the amount of time they spend engaging with screens. Set simple household rules, such as ‘no screen time until homework is completed’, and encourage them to do other sorts of activities away from technology.

You can install family-friendly browser filters for reassurance that the content they have access to is appropriate, as well as timers that will lock you out of an app if it’s active for more than a set amount of time each day.

Guest Article.