Online Safety: Advice for Parents and Carers

Making sure our young people are protected and happy on social media has never been more important than now. With so much of their lives taking place on a screen, here’s some things you can do to support them.

Conversations

Talking to your child about what websites and social media they use and whether they are being affected by anything they’re seeing is important. These tips might help you to start a positive conversation:

– Pick a suitable place and time to talk to them, such as when you’re having a meal together, in the car, or another time where you’re doing something together. Try not to start a conversation with them when they’re already occupied by something else.

– Start the conversation without directly asking them about their internet use and things they see. Make more broader points, or observations from your own experience before asking questions, for example:
“I see so much violence on my social media feed now, it’s making it less enjoyable to spend time on there. How do I stop these accounts from appearing on my feed when I don’t follow them?”

“I read something about news reporting the other day that was saying how everything is so negative. Do you see a lot of that?”

– Don’t make a chat like this a one off, either. Having regular talks will help to normalise it and may make your child more open to talking, especially if they are struggling with anything. Even if you think they might not have anything to say, still ask them!

– Don’t overload them, trying to talk about everything at once. Talking about one thing at a time might also help start those regular conversations.

– If you are discussing a delicate subject, like porn, nudes or violence, make sure the conversation is in a confidential, safe space and make sure they know you aren’t there to judge them.

– Find positives and talk about those too – social media is a huge part of their lives. Don’t make your child think you are against social media.

– Remember to tell them that you’re always there to talk and help if they need anything – and that nothing is off limits to talk about.

Safeguarding

Make sure your child knows:

– How to report things on different social media platforms. This guide for young people from Childline has information about how to report and block on different platforms: Bullying on social media | Childline

– It is a criminal offence to send nude photos and videos to someone without their consent, or share someone else’s nude photos and videos. If your child ever receives anything without consent, or something of theirs is shared by someone else, they can report this to the platform and also to the police.

– What a hate crime is – abuse based on their race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity – and that they can report it to the police or to a hate crime reporting centre, like our Advice Centre, where they will be supported through the process.

– To never share personal information like contact and bank details in public spaces or with strangers, or send or lend money to anyone online. If they are being pressured into sharing information or money, they should block and report the account.

– That meeting up with anyone you have only met online comes with risks and it’s always best to check with an adult before going, or have an adult present. Meeting up in private or late at night should be avoided.

Wellbeing and Cyberbullying

If you see signs that your child is angry, upset or just generally unsettled around the time they are using social media, this could be a reaction to something they’ve seen or something they’re experiencing online.

Let them know that you are there if there is anything on their mind or anything they want to talk about. You might also want to help them make improvements to their social media use, like:

– Unfollowing, blocking or muting accounts that don’t make them happy or share negative content

– Helping them to reduce the amount of time they’re spending on social media. Try offering alternative activities for them to do to keep them occupied.

– Having a timeline cleanse, unfollowing accounts that post negative content or aren’t of interest to them – this might also help them to spend less time on social media.

– Encouraging them to not go on social media in the lead up to bedtime so their mind is more settled and ready for sleep.

– Muting or blocking accounts that share negative and explicit content so even if they aren’t following them, they won’t appear on their screens.

If you think your child is being cyberbullied, make sure they know how they can deal with it, and support them to make the following steps:

– Not retaliating or replying to comments, adding fuel to the fire

– Avoiding interacting with those accounts further

– Changing settings on their account to be more private

– Saving comments, posts and messages as evidence

– Blocking or muting accounts targeting them

– Reporting accounts to the platform and telling someone at school

– Keeping you updated on what’s happening

Remember to keep asking your child how they are feeling and if anything else has happened.

Set a good example

Even though this advice is about how you can support young people to make their social media use better, it is important that you set a good example for them too. Have suitable privacy settings on your accounts and avoid posting anything that you wouldn’t want them to post.

More information

These websites have useful guides on how you can further support your child around their internet and social media use:
– Internet Matters
– Parentkind – Online Safety Toolkit
– UK Safer Internet Centre – Parents and Carers
– NSPCC – Keeping Children Safe Online

Want to talk to No Limits?

Our youth workers are available to give parents and carers support and advice on how to help their child. Call us on 02380 224 224, or email enquiries@nolimitshelp.org.uk.

You can also refer your child for support at No Limits here, or they can come and speak to our youth workers without an appointment at our Advice Centre six days a week.