Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Parents can’t preach one thing and practise another when it comes to online behaviour and safety

Our children pay attention to how we use our tech devices (Photo: Marcos Mesa Sam Wordley/Shutterstock)
Our children pay attention to how we use our tech devices (Photo: Marcos Mesa Sam Wordley/Shutterstock)

It’s great to know there is lots of advice out there about online safety for children.

However, it can be confusing for young people if the adults around them appear not to be following the same guidance they are giving.

Carla Malseed

There are many online behaviours that we want our children to adopt, such as being kind to others and talking to us about any issues they come across.

As parents and carers, it is good for us to take a step back every so often and think about how we model such behaviours in our own lives. This can help us understand if there is anything else we can do to help keep our children safe online.

Turning off notifications during periods throughout the day can show our children how important is to take a break from the online world, particularly if they feel overwhelmed. This can be done by using the “do not disturb” feature on your phone, or by turning off notifications in device settings.

Discussing and agreeing with our children on a time to do this, particularly in the evening and while having dinner, will give the whole family a much-needed break.

Children spend far more time on social media and the internet than ever before (Photo: Casezy idea/Shutterstock)

Misinformation and being mindful of what you share

There is a lot of fake news and misinformation online, so it’s helpful to discuss with our children what we are reading. This will help them to understand and to develop skills to think about and question the content they come across.

We also tell our children to be mindful of what they share online, but as parents it’s also important to consider what we are sharing.

Talking to our children to remind them that passwords are private and should not be shared is important, but we should lead by example

For example, we might tell kids not to share pictures of themselves in their school uniforms, but at the start of every school year many parents do just this. This presents an opportunity to discuss how sharing can be done safely, such as with privacy settings and in small networks on social media.

Do we keep our own passwords safe? Talking to our children to remind them that passwords are private and should not be shared is important, but we should lead by example and also show them that we act this way ourselves.

More tips and advice about online safety is available on net-aware.org.uk.

Anyone with any concerns about the welfare of a child can contact the NSPCC’s confidential helpline on 0808 800 5000 or at nspcc.org.uk for advice. Children can contact Childline on 0800 1111 or at childline.org.uk.


Carla Malseed is an NSPCC Scotland campaigns manager

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