Internet Safety

Online Myths

There are a number of Myths around e-safety and we have produced the top 10 below.

Digital natives know it all: Only 36 per cent of 9-16-year-olds say it is very true that they know more about the internet than their parents. This myth obscures children’s needs to develop digital skills.

Everyone is creating their own content: The study showed that only one in five children had recently used a file-sharing site or created an avatar, half that number wrote a blog. Most children use the internet for ready-made content.

Under 13s can’t use social networking sites: Although many sites (including Facebook) say that users must be aged at least 13, the survey shows that age limits don’t work – 38 per cent of 9-12-year-olds have a social networking profile. Some argue age limits should be scrapped to allow greater honesty and protective action.

Bullies are baddies: The study shows that 60 per cent who bully (online or offline) have themselves been bullied. Bullies and victims are often the same people

People you meet on the internet are strangers: Most online contacts are people children know face-to-face. Nine per cent met offline people they’d first contacted online – most didn’t go alone and only one per cent had a bad experience

Offline risks migrate online: This is not necessarily true. While children who lead risky offline lives are more likely to expose themselves to danger online, it cannot be assumed that those who are low-risk offline are protected while online.

Putting the PC in the living room will help: Children find it so easy to go online at a friend’s house or on a smartphone that this advice is out of date. Parents are better advised to talk to their children about their internet habits or join them in some online activity.

Teaching digital skills reduces online risk: Actually the more digital skills a child has, the more risks they are likely to encounter as they broaden their online experience. What more skills can do is reduce the potential harm that risks can bring.

Children can get around safety software: In fact, fewer than one in three 11-16 year-olds say they can change filter preferences. And most say their parents’ actions to limit their internet activity is helpful.

1. What internet protection software / hardware do you use?
2. What does your digital footprint look like?
3. What if you had a problem?
4. Are you a positive digital role model?
5. Have you got a family agreement
6. Practical resources

SKY

VIRGIN MEDIA

Screen Time on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

With Screen Time, you can access real-time reports about how much time you child spends on their iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, and set limits for what you want to manage. Screen Time lets you know how much time your kids spend on apps, websites, and more and limit or restrict access.

Making YouTube child-friendly

YouTube has child-friendly filters as some of its content may not be appropriate for children. We have included a link to a video to show you how to set this up at home. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtQat5HNYrI#action=share

Facebook for Parents

Facebook have similar information for parents which includes details on how to report incidents.

https://www.facebook.com/safety/groups/parents

Safety Detectives

Katarina Glamoslija is Head Content Manager at SafetyDetectives. She has nearly a decade of experience researching, testing, and reviewing cybersecurity products and investigating best practices for online safety and data protection. Our children are spending more time online, and most parents are not aware of the risks they are putting their children through by allowing them unlimited access to streams on the internet.

https://www.safetydetectives.com/

• Tinder

Hooking-up and dating and allows users to rate each other

• Blendr

Allows people to meet through a GPS location

• KIK Messenger

Works like snapchat but users can communicate anonymously

• Ask Fm

An anonymous Q&A site

• TikTok

Tik Tok is a social media platform where children, teens, and even adults can interact with each other through messaging and sharing videos, which makes the app have a lot of safety concerns

• Doki Doki (Literature Club)

This game markets itself as a happy, colourful school dating game packed with childlike characters. It is easy to download, doesn’t require any parental checks and has gained a cult following among young people and gamers. However, it quickly takes a sinister twist generally involving depictions of self-harm, suicide and violence. This game has been singled out as being particularly disturbing to children because of the way it blurs the lines between the game’s fictitious story and real life – known as “breaking the fourth wall”.