On the home page of the website you will now find a link button to the website ‘Internet Matters’. This is a UK based website that has been set up to help keep children safe online. Common Sense Media is still an excellent resource but this website is specifically tailored to the UK.
The website has some excellent content and is being continuously updated to help tackle the fast-moving issues our children face online. It deals with all of the issues online today in a very easy to digest format.
Clicking the green logo on our home page will take you to the Internet Matters home page or you can click the link below.
Click here to visit Internet Matters
As many of you will be aware, there is an internet fad called ‘Momo’. Varying accounts of what happens from country to country are very different, but it appears to be a progressive dare game.
Currently the situation in the UK seems to be more about hype and scaremongering than the actual game. Rumours are quickly spreading and many of them are unsubstantiated.
There does not appear to be any actual hacking involved. The child must engage in conversation for anything to happen.
As the details of the craze are unclear our advice is –
• Firstly speak to your children and reassure them. Let them know that they should not be afraid of the rumours and that they can speak to you.
• Go through their personal devices with them and ask them to account for every friend and conversation they have. If they cannot explain a friend or conversation in an app such as Instagram, Snapchat or WhatsApp we would strongly advise that they are removed.
• Check games consoles such as xBoxs and Playstations for friend lists as well.
• Check these devices every day, as things like this can be very fast-moving.
• Make sure they are searching safely online using parental controls such as Google ‘SafeSearch’.
• Make sure you are aware of exactly what your child is doing and viewing online – particularly YouTube. A lot of the rumour content is being circulated through YouTube.
Worried about what your children are watching on YouTube? Or do you not know what they are watching? YouTube is very popular among children, and when used with control it can be great. It can, however, also be dangerous and unsafe.
Click here for helpful tips on how to keep your child safe on YouTube.
Now Christmas has been and gone, many children will have received some kind of electrical gadget from Santa and it has quickly turned into their new hobby!
The amount of time children are spending on screens is rising dramatically every year and parents around the world have concerns about the amount of time their child is spending on technology. If you are feeling like this…you are not alone!
Over the coming weeks we will be trying to help you make technology a positive influence in the house and not let it become a negative daily fight.
The video below gives simple tips to help create a ‘healthy media diet’ in your house.
Many of the hints and tips over the coming weeks come from the excellent Common Sense Media website. They strive to keep adults of all ages up to date with the newest advancements in technology. They also offer many hints and tips that come from parental success stories and what people from around the world are dealing with.
All of the information over the coming weeks will be stored in the ‘Parent Zone’ section of our website for you to refer to at any time.
Please have a look at the new CEOP and Thinkuknow links on the sidebar. These are websites which help both parents and children of all ages deal with issues and pressures relating to the internet.
