Children are beginning to engage with social media at younger and younger ages and, as a result, protecting their safety online has become increasingly challenging.
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, shares expert tips for parents to help keep children safe online.
Top five tips:
- Start talking to your kids about online safety the moment you hand over a digital device and let them know they can come to you if something goes wrong online.
- Create a family technology agreement with a range of guidelines, including time limits, allowed activities/apps and where to use devices.
- Use parental controls in apps and devices to monitor and limit what your child does online and turn on privacy settings to restrict who contacts your child in apps and games.
- Choose games and apps together and help set them up for privacy and safety and keep your kids in open areas of the home when using their devices.
- Join in with your child’s online activities by co-viewing and co-playing.
“We have the eSafety guide at www.esafety.gov.au/key-issues/esafety-guide which has all the latest apps, games and social media and includes important advice about their safety features, including how to use the settings to report online abuse and protect your personal information,” Ms Inman Grant says.
Start the conversation about social media
“It’s important to talk regularly with your children about potential dangers online and help them build the critical reasoning skills they need to make good decisions when it comes to social media. Try to understand the benefits your child gets from social media, but also help them understand that there are risks – like cyberbullying, online abuse and being exposed to harmful content.
“Understand the age at which children can join social media, noting that for most online services this is 13 years old, and set limitations early in terms of time spent online. We have Family Tech Agreements available on our website so parents can have conversations and lay ground rules early.
“We know that when children are part of these conversations, they are more likely to stick to the rules.”
Activate parental controls
“For younger children, ensure their social media accounts are not publicly available and establish rules around what types of content they should share online.
“For older children, suggest they make their social media accounts private, or revise their privacy settings so they can control who can look at their photos and posts. You can also encourage your child – of any age – to delete contacts they don’t actually know in person.”
Avoiding dangers online
“All platforms that allow social interaction, from apps and social media sites to online video games, are open to misuse and can expose children to unwanted contact from strangers, being bullied or abused, or being exposed to harmful content.
“Tell your child that they can come to you with any online issue, even if they feel like they have made a mistake. Young people are often reluctant to tell adults if something goes wrong online, but regular open conversations can encourage them to come to you if they feel unsafe.
“We advise young people to be cautious when friending someone they don’t already know in real life and strongly advise young people against meeting a stranger they have met online in person.”
Cyberbullying
“If something does go wrong online, or in the real world, it’s important your child knows they can come to you for help. Let them know our primary role in being parents is keeping them safe. Any concerns about cyberbullying should be reported to the social media site, and, if appropriate actions are not taken, talk to us at eSafety,” Ms Inman Grant says.
“As the world’s first online harms regulator, eSafety still operates the only government-backed scheme in the world which can order the removal of serious child cyberbullying content from social media sites – and now our powers are expanded to cover online gaming platforms and private messaging apps.
“One in five kids are bullied playing an online game and one in four of our cyberbullying reports involve bullying on private messaging services.”
To report cyberbullying, visit www.esafety.gov.au/report/forms
For further information and advice, visit www.esafety.gov.au/parents
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