E Safety

Internet safety in the Early Years

With the rising use of devices and the internet among children safety is so important. These are just a few tips to help you and your children with e-safety!

1. Explore together.

Talk to your child about what the internet is and explore it together so you can show them the fun and educational things they can do. Reassure them that if they see anything that upsets them, they should come and talk to you.

2. Keep involved.

Encourage them to use devices in the same room as you so you can keep and an eye on how they’re using the internet. Stay interested about what they are doing and encourage them to share their enjoyment with you.

3. Put yourself in control.

Activate parental controls on your home broadband. Most Internet-enabled devices also offer parental controls. Even at this age, have conversations about what personal information is and how it’s important to keep it to themselves. While they’re unlikely to speak with strangers online, it’s good to start these conversations early. That way, if something happens that asks for personal information, they know to get help from you.

4. Search safely.

If you let your child search independently, make sure safe search settings are activated on Google and other search engines or set the default to one designed especially for children such as Swiggle.

5. Use passwords.

Keep your devices out of reach and set passwords on all your internet-enabled devices and don’t share them. This way you’ll know when and where your child is accessing the internet.

6. Use age-appropriate sites and apps.

Choose safe, fun and educational sites and apps for your child. Use age ratings in the app stores to check suitability.

7. Set boundaries.

It’s never too soon to start setting boundaries. Set some rules about how they use connected technology, including which apps and sites they can use and how long they can spend on them.

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