About SMS

SMS News

eSafety Advice

These links have been put together for parents and carers to help your child stay safe on the internet. Some of the material addresses sensitive issues; however, we know that, if unchecked, children may be exposed to many unnecessary and harmful things on the web. Therefore, we suggest that you talk to your child about some of these things in advance so they make better choices about how to navigate the internet.

These are some top tips to keep your child safe:

  • Install a parental filter (see guide below).
  • Keep the internet router in your own room and turn it OFF at night.
  • Ensure any pictures of your child on social media do not embed location. This is especially important for Instagram (see guides to social media below).
  • Ask your child to show you the websites they use – do they know the people they have connected to?
  • Make sure your children use age appropriate sites: Facebook and YouTube have a minimum age of 13.
  • Ensure your child’s mobile phone has a PIN number that you know.
  • Set up the expectation that you will check their devices periodically.
  • Speak to your child about the dangers to their wellbeing of unsuitable content.
  • Be approachable! You want children to be unafraid to approach you with a question or problem.

Useful eSafety links

Guide to parental controls

Sharing pictures of younger children online

Guide to revealing selfies

NSPCC – Talking to children about unsuitable content (pornography)

Latest edition of online parenting

Resources

One of our last ParentMeets focused all on eSafety. Check out the useful links page to download the resources from the evening.

SMS News