Keeping Your Kids Safe Online Over The Easter Holidays

As the Easter holidays approach; adults, carers and parents may be concerned that their children will spend more time on social sites and playing online games. The latest statistics suggest that they could be online for up to 44.5 hours each week during school holiday dates. 

According to studies, 40% of parents do not keep track of their children's social media use.

We Are Web is encouraging parents to learn more about the social sites their children use before the Easter holidays, in order to safeguard their families from online dangers.

‍Only 47% of parents are ‘friends with' their children on social media.

School Holiday

During the Easter holidays, children will be online for longer periods of time, and parents may miss important indicators as to what they're doing. Some parents are worried about how much time their children spend online, to the point that some take away smartphones and tablets at night to restrict their children's internet usage and screen time. While it's good to see that parents are limiting their children's time online, seizing devices is not always the best answer.

Online Safety Advice

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• Discover and keep up to date with the newest social networks and applications (apps).

• Wait until your child is of an appropriate age before agreeing to which social networking sites they may join.

• Assist your child with helping to create their profile and configuring their privacy settings.

• Make sure you're aware of any changes in your privacy settings, and change them as needed.

• If you find any bad language or pictures, use the support, reporting and assistance tools.

• Help keep your children safe online by teaching them how to block or ignore individuals on games and social networking sites, as well as when to do so.

• Teach your child that they should never disclose personal information, such as their password, address, or school.

• Determine how long they may use various websites each day, together.

• Maintain a relationship with the same social media platforms to keep an eye on things.

• Make sure children understand that those they meet online may not be who they claim to be, and that meeting them could be very dangerous.

Summary

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Providing children and young people with online safety advice and tips, helps them to understand online risks and can protect children from online bullying. Supporting children throughout the summer term and half term(s), can help support parents and encourage them not to worry about their family 's safety while they are online. We Are Web is urging parents to take steps to ensure their children's safety online during the Easter holidays and seek further online safety advice where required.

There are a number of things that parents can do to help keep their kids safe, such as staying up-to-date on new social networks and applications, assisting with profile creation, parental controls and privacy settings.

If you are worried about how to keep your children safe online, unsure about parental controls or want to learn or talk about how to stay safe online, seek help and guidance from  online safety resources.