NSPCC and O2 join forces to keep children safe online

Keeping kids entertained during the summer holidays is an annual challenge for parents and one which inevitably focuses on reducing the amount of ‘screen time’ and ensuring kids spend as much time as possible in the great outdoors.

In reality, kids love the internet, and there’s no escaping the fact it’ll play a significant role during their summer holidays.

Clearly, there needs to be a balance between sitting in front of a screen and spending time outside, but the internet is a wonderful thing and will quench the thirst of even the most curious child.

However, with cybercrime regularly hitting the headlines and the dangers of finding and sharing inappropriate content seemingly at every turn, how do you keep your kids safe online?

Enter the NSPCC and O2, who have joined forces to provide parents with a boatload of advice for keeping children safe online.

A goldmine of information for parents

The dedicated website is beautifully designed and easy to navigate. You’ll find dedicated mini sites for each topic that feature bold graphics, engaging animation, simple guidance and fab videos. It’s a joy to explore, but we thought we’d give you some shortcuts to our favourite sections…

How to talk to children about online safety

“But, it’s just the internet, mum!”

To a child, the internet is a wondrous land that is full of fun, games and surprises, therefore any suggestions that it should be treated carefully in order to stay safe will normally be met with derision.

In this section, parents are encouraged to tackle this by:

• exploring sites and apps together;
• asking questions about disturbing online content either their child or the child’s friends have seen;
• demonstrating how to use safety features on websites such as blocking and reporting.

Being Share Aware

A brilliant 30 second video starts off this section, which delves into the important topic of being ‘Share Aware’.

Unlike (most) adults, children won’t think twice about sharing things online that shock, surprise or disturb them. Equally, they probably won’t consider the potential consequences of sharing personal information or imagery of themselves.

In this section, we learn:

• three tips to help start the conversation about being Share Aware;
• how to talk about a child’s online world;
• the importance of creating a family agreement that details what shouldn’t be shared online.

Staying up-to-date with the latest apps and games

This section links to the NSPCC’s NetAware website which features a database of the latest apps and games available for smartphones and tablets.

Simply type in the name of an app you’d like to know more about, and NetAware will deliver a detailed explanation of its features, purpose and individual ratings for everything from the sign-up process to the privacy settings. A wonderful resource.

We hope you enjoy exploring the the NSPCC and O2’s website as much as we did. For any parent this summer, it’s an essential bookmark.