Safer Internet Day - do you REALLY know how to keep your children safe online?

This week sees the return of the UK-wide initiative to promote safe internet use amongst children. Now in its 8th year, Safer Internet Day is intended for campaigners, schools, carers and parents to highlight risks that online content and online interaction may pose to children, and provide everyone with the tools and resources to ensure that their children do not become a victim of online bullying, harassment, sexual grooming or worse.

Safer Internet Day also promotes the responsibilities of parents to remain vigilant about the material that their children are accessing, but equally, children themselves must be taught the possible risks they may be exposed to when they use the internet.

I was pretty shocked to read that in Britain today, 80% of children aged between just 5-7 years old use the internet regularly, and children aged 9-16 are online almost constantly when not in school, whether on Facebook or gaming (which come second only to school work in terms of use).

If we accept then that the internet is an inevitable (and often very useful, let's not forget) part of our kids lives, how then can we as parents make sure that they stay safe whilst online?

I spoke to local expert Colin Watney at Cranbrook Computing, who had the following essential tips to internet safety in the home:

1) Make sure the family computer or laptop is in a public place in the home - avoid letting youngsters having their own PC in their bedroom.

2) Agree a few sensible house rules regarding internet use, as most children will respond to a simple request not to delete their browsing history and to supply parents with their log in details, on the understanding that parents will check what sites they have been accessing from time to time.

3) Children will ALWAYS beat technology, and so avoid clamping down entirely on letting them use the internet or installing expensive blocking software that will quickly become redundant, and monitoring software is often more of a costly hindrance than a help.

4) Ensure that your children are aware of the dangers of enabling public access to personal details such as their address, phone numbers or even holiday plans - burglars just love to know when you'll be away and the house empty!

5) Never engage online with people they don't know - if they are worried or concerned about anything online they must let a parent, teacher or carer know immediately.

For more information about Safer Internet Day, see www.saferinternet.org.uk or call Colin via 01580 712773 who will be delighted to have a chat with you about internet safety in your home.