Internet Safety?

My eldest has started using the internet now. A LOT! With a tablet, various smartphones and lots of computers around the house, keeping him safe is my main concern.We have ways of managing how much he uses the internet, for example a friend recommended changing the Wi-Fi password every day and only allowing them the password when he had done his homework or his chores. This works fabulous at controlling when he can go on, but of course the bit which mainly worry’s me, and talking to a lot of my friends worry’s them also, is how you can ensure they’re safe once they eventually get online!

A wonderful article here from PC Advisor (well worth a read) provides some useful tips and safeguards to ensure online safety, especially considering that a lot of kids start using the internet and new apps to help them learn colours and numbers from as young as two.

Frankly, my 7 year old can get onto places on a computer I haven’t an inkling of how to find, so it makes my job to protect them online even harder! Thankfully I don’t let them on social media, Imagine what they’d come into contact then! Do remember that you’ve got to be at least 13 to be eligible for an account – it’s not without reason! But I’m aware that some of the children in his class already have Facebook accounts. Currently I try to only let them use the apps which are fairly safe like Angry Birds etc, but with only a touch of the button, they have the whole internet with bullying, dishonest or unreliable sites and dodgy downloads there, in front of them, to take advantage of their innocence.

…Unless you’re standing over them the whole time they use it (I do try when I can!)

Slightly shocked by this Daily Mail article since we have automatically installed an internet safety package with our broadbrand provider, but having looked further into it, it doesn’t protect my children from half the things I would like them protected from.  We discovered (my husbands in IT and use to help set these filters up for companies) there were a fair few easy ways around this filter that a child could find by accident. The test revealed that among the range of free and paid web filters, that Norton Family outperformed the others by far. The test was actually performed on the free version, so that only leaves one to wonder how the premium version would perform. Though there’s not a significant difference between the two, personally I think I would upgrade to the premium version for the main fact that it not only offers protection on a computer, but will also offer a similar protection on a mobile phone. Not to mention the fact that I can see a snippet of every video they’ve watched in my absence and have a detailed monthly activity log sent to my phone. Fabulous idea, as we’re consistently becoming more mobile creatures!

So our top five?

1, Get a decent protection package. The best you can afford.

2, Don’t give personal information ever to anyone including passwords, address etc

3, Don’t use the internet to talk to strangers, you wouldn’t in the street would you?

4, Put your central console in a public place. We have ours at the kitchen table. It does allow the ability to monitor it a bit more.

5, Ensure your safety package also protects mobiles! Review the settings. Make sure someone else cant find their location from photos.