Child Safety Week is an annual campaign run by the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) to raise awareness for children accidents and how they can be prevented.
The week – that runs between 7th and 13th June this year – acts as a catalyst for conversations and activities about child safety amongst communities all around the UK.
These days, it is well documented that one of the most dangerous places a child can be is surfing the Internet, especially without the appropriate assurances in place.
And if there is one thing we do know – it’s that the Internet is here to stay.
Its usage has only intensified over the past year or so of the pandemic – in fact, almost half of children aged 3-5 is now using the Internet at home raising to 71% in 12-17 year olds.
Introducing cyber safety into your household is a necessary step to keeping your child safe online.
As an Internet provider company, we know a few tech-savvy ways to keep you at peace of mind whilst they’re streaming on the PS5.
Lets start with the basics – setting up parental controls.
Parental controls within the operating system are a way to give you constant monitoring of your child’s online activities.
On iPhone’s and iPad’s for example, you can personally select certain online searching restrictions and block specific applications and websites you know are unsuitable for your child.
You can also set up parental controls for every web browser, mobile network, social media or console that your child may use.
To take a look at a guide for how to use each one optimally, click here.
Parental controls have proven to be really effective in protecting children online, but they are not 100%.
It is more critical than ever to create a dialogue with your child about the importance of their online safety.
Asking your child about the sites they visit or friends that they talk to online is a great opportunity to teach them skills in critical thinking and online awareness.
A lot of children will not comprehend that the Internet isn’t private – so informing them of this foundational knowledge is a good start in prioritising their online safety.
Additionally, it is a chance to show them good etiquette with things like how to communicate politely and how to avoid harmful advertisements or pop ups.
Finally, it is always a good idea to keep track of overall online time.
It is recommended that children between the ages of 5 and 17 should have no more than two hours of screen time per day.
This ensures less chance of children developing bad online habits and means they don’t come dependent on the Internet outside of school hours.
It has to be said – switching off the home Wi-Fi before bedtime is not a bad non-negotiable tactic to get the heads down on a school night.
All in all, it is wonderful there are so many organisations working together to keep families safe.
To keep constantly informed, follow some of these household safety blogs that provide plenty of useful resources: