1. Online safety parents’ meeting

2. Perspective!
A 2014 survey by EU Kids Online, found that though children are indeed exposed to some risk when they go online, less than a fifth of nine- to 16-year-olds said they had been bothered or upset by something they’d seen online within the past year.

3. For internet safety information to be helpful, it needs to reflect the reality of young people’s experiences online: the risks they face and the actual possibility of harm. Here are a few common online safety myths, along with the truth about each one – and some tips on using that information to help your children stay safe.

4. Myth: Adults who want to harm children target them by pretending to be young people themselves.
Fact: This can be the case, but according to the Crimes Against Children Research Center,2 most online offenders admit they are older before trying to convince their victims to meet in person
What can you do?
Discuss the risks involved in sending revealing images or using webcams, which can always be recorded. And talk to them about the risks of meeting up with online-only friends in real life. Encourage them to talk to you if they are ever worried about anything that happens online.

5. Myth: Sharing personal information online is never safe.
Fact: It’s difficult to interact online without sharing any personal details. Popular social networking sites and services all require some amount of personal information to get started. The important thing is to ensure that young people are using the right privacy settings.
What can you do? 
Encourage your children to think carefully about all the information they share – why do they need to provide it? Who can see it?
Warn them about the riskiest types of online interaction, such as talking to people they have never met face-to-face, sharing revealing images or posting their phone number publicly.

6. Myth: Social media is too risky and should be for adults and older teens only.
Fact: ‘Social media’ is a broad term referring to a wide range of platforms for connecting and communicating online. Some are safer than others, but they all involve a certain amount of risk – and many incorporate tools for preventing harm, like reporting functions, privacy settings and moderators who remove inappropriate content. Many young people use social media safely and productively.
What can you do? 
Talk to your child about privacy settings and responsible use of social media. Before they set up their first account, you might want to read over the privacy information together and talk about what tools make sense to use.
For instance, they could set all their posts to be visible to friends only. You should also look at the terms and conditions on user age – some sites and apps require users to be over 13, 16 or even 18.

7. Myth: Most children have been exposed to sexual images online.
Fact: According to research from the London School of Economics, around one in seven children reported seeing sexual images online in the past year.4
What can you do? 
Don’t assume your children are being bombarded with sexual images every time they go online, but make sure they know what they can do if they do come across something inappropriate. Have a look at our article on reporting unwanted content for more information.

8. Myth: Putting your family computer in a shared room will help you manage your children’s internet use and make it easier to keep them safe.
Fact: This may have been true at one point, but unfortunately it’s not so simple any more. In the age of smartphones, tablets and other portable devices, young people can access the internet just about anywhere. And even if they don’t personally have a smartphone, they could go online using someone else’s device or at a friend’s house.
What can you do? 
Rather than trying to control everything your child sees, focus on building their resilience. The more confident and knowledgeable they are, the more likely it is that they’ll be able to deal with any risks they encounter online. Try looking at age-appropriate resources like the CEOP Thinkuknow website together to make sure they’re clued up.

9. Myth: Children should avoid all risk on the internet.
Fact: It’s not possible or even desirable to avoid all risk online. Children shouldn’t take risks unnecessarily, of course – but just as you wouldn’t stop a child from learning to ride a bike because they might fall off, keeping your kids from exploring the online world because it could possibly lead to harm isn’t doing them any favours.
What can you do? 
Talk to your children about staying safe online in a pragmatic and age-appropriate way. Encourage them to use good judgement and to trust their instinct if they believe something is too good to be true, or just doesn’t feel right.

10. Even once you’ve got all the facts, helping your children enjoy the internet safely isn’t always easy. And talking to them about online risk can be just as daunting. If you need more support or practical tips on what to say, have a look at these resources:
Reporting to CEOP
CEOP’s tips on having difficult conversations with your child.
How worried do you need to be about your child’s internet use?      
CEOP’s Thinkuknow site for parents

11. What are parental controls?
Parental controls are software and tools that allow parents to set controls on their children’s internet use. They are a great way of helping prevent children from accessing unsuitable content online.
Internet Matters has developed a web app(link is external) that allows you to create a personalised checklist for setting parental controls in your home and on your family’s devices. This contains help and advice on setting the controls for your home broadband and the mobile devices your family may use, including how-to videos and step-by-step guides. 

12. What are parental controls?
Parental controls are software and tools that allow parents to set controls on their children’s internet use. They are a great way of helping prevent children from accessing unsuitable content online.
Internet Matters has developed a web app(link is external) that allows you to create a personalised checklist for setting parental controls in your home and on your family’s devices. This contains help and advice on setting the controls for your home broadband and the mobile devices your family may use, including how-to videos and step-by-step guides. 

13. Types of controls
Talk of ‘controls’ can sometimes be confusing. In essence, there are three types that parents need to be aware of:
Network level controls are set on the hub or router and apply to all devices connected to that hub or router (covering your whole household).
Device level controls are set on the device itself, such as a smartphone, and will apply regardless of how and where the device is connected to the internet.
Application controls are set on the platform or application that is being used. Examples of this would be the settings applied to Google or YouTube. Again, these apply anywhere.

14. What do they do?
There are many types of controls available, and they allow you to do a number of different things, such as:
Filter and block content that you don’t want your children to see, such as violence and pornography.
Restrict what information is shared.
Set time limits on how long children are online.
Control the time of day that children can access the internet.
Set different profiles so that each family member has an access level that is appropriate to them.

15. Home broadband controls
Most internet providers like BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media offer free filters(link is external), giving you control over what internet content comes into your home. This means that any device that connects to your home broadband is subject to the controls that you have set on your home router or hub. These are sometimes referred to as ‘whole home filters’.
Internet-enabled devices
Smartphones(link is external), computers and tablets(link is external) are shipped with controls that can be set up to restrict access to explicit content, in-app purchasing and other content that you don't want your child to access. 
Most games consoles and devices are internet-enabled, allowing users to surf the web, as well as in-game purchasing and chat with other online players. All the major gaming consoles and devices come with controls(link is external) that allow parents to decide what can and cannot be done, both on the console itself and in online gaming platforms such as Xbox Live. Some allow you to set up different profiles with different rights for each family member.
Search engines
It’s possible that children may sometimes come across things online which are inappropriate for their age and stage of development when they are browsing the internet. The main search engines allow you to set up filters(link is external), such as Google SafeSearch, that can help you block inappropriate or explicit images from your results. These filters are not 100% accurate, but they help you avoid most adult content. You should also consider encouraging the use of child-friendly search engines such as Swiggle and Safe Search UK.
Entertainment Platforms
If you and your family access entertainment content via the internet you should also consider setting Controls on the platforms(link is external) you use. YouTube, iTunes, BBC iPlayer and Sky Go all have safety settings available. Each is different and some, such as Netflix, allow you to create individual profiles with different control levels so that each family member only sees content that is appropriate to them.
Mobile networks
The mobile operators allow you to set restrictions(link is external) on what can be accessed via their networks. Most are automatically set to block 18+ content and require the account holder’s permission to change this. It is worth checking with your mobile provider exactly what is and is not blocked, and if this applies to their pay-as-you go handsets as well as their pay monthly options. We do recommend that Controls are set on the mobile device itself as well as on the mobile network. Mobile network controls will not apply when the device is being used via a wi-fi connection.

16. So what should you do?
Controls are not a single solution to staying safe online; talking to your children and encouraging responsible behaviour is critical. However, controls are a vital first step to helping to protect your child online, and here seven simple things you can do:
Set up home broadband parental controls: make use of controls on your home broadband.
Set controls on your search engine: encourage your child always to use child-friendly search engines and activate and lock the safe search settings on the browsers and platforms they use.
Make sure every device is protected: controls should be installed on every device your child uses: mobile phone, tablet and games consoles (both home and handheld).

17. Privacy settings: activate the safety measures offered by different sites; social networking sites like Facebook have privacy settings that will help prevent your child seeing unsuitable advertising.
Block pop-ups: if you’re worried about your children accessing inappropriate content though accidentally clicking on adverts in pop-ups, BBC Webwise has advice on how to stop these.
Find good sites and agree on them as a family: by talking to your child about their interests you can help them find suitable sites to visit and apps to use. Review these sites as they get older.
Manage their use and access: your child may be less likely to let you know they’re distressed by something they’ve seen online if they think you’ll take away their internet access but it may be appropriate to do this in some instances. Be aware of this when talking to them, and let them know they can talk to you or a trusted adult whenever they need to.