Advice for parents and carers

Smart Speakers

How to start a conversation with your child about using a smart speaker safely:

Why do you want to get a smart speaker?

Why not find out what your child expects to use their smart speaker for. This could be for finding out information, playing games or taking quizzes, or listening to music.

Do any of your friends have a smart speaker at home?

This can open up a discussion about whether your child has used a smart speaker before, and also help you find out more about what they expect to use the speaker for.

What would you do if there was a smart speaker in another person’s home you were visiting?

You can ask them about appropriate things they can do on the speaker, as well as expectations around how they use technology, both at home or with their friends.

How can you check that information that a smart speaker is telling you is correct and reliable?

Critical thinking is a great skill for young people to have, you can use this opportunity to look at how your child checks the sources of information they see and hear, and how opinion is different from face. Read more in our misinformation guidance.

What would you do if you heard something worrying or upsetting from the smart speaker?

Talk about strategies they need in case something concerning happens whilst they are using a smart speaker. This could be to walk away and tell an adult.

Top tips:

Talk with your child about responsible use of your smart speaker

Discuss what is okay and not okay to use their smart speaker for. Talk about time limits and expectations of where the device can and cannot be used, this could include things like the speaker helping with homework or not adding items to shopping lists using the speaker.

Discuss what to do if something upsetting or worrying happens.

This could be to stop talking to it, leave the room and tell an adult.

Explore parental controls

Take a look at the controls available both on the speaker itself and on your home Wi-Fi. Talk these through with your child too. Parental controls are a helpful tool, but an open conversation with your child is the most important thing.

FAQ’s about smart speakers

When deciding whether to get a smart speaker, discuss what it can do and what it should be used for with your child. Place the speaker in a central space such as the kitchen, so that you can supervise its use whilst the whole family can still enjoy using it.

Using the smart speaker with your child is a fun way to familiarise yourself with how it works and how they like to use it. It is also a chance to show how to use it sensibly and respectfully, for example, by not asking it to play loud music when people are watching TV nearby.

A family agreement can help you to set out your expectations with your child whether you are adding a new smart speaker or have been using one for a while.

Like any piece of technology, smart speakers have both benefits and risks. Many of the risks depend on how a smart speaker is being used. There are some key concerns people have about children using smart speakers in particular:

Accessing inappropriate or false content
Making unauthorised or accidental purchases
Having their data collected and used
Being ‘hacked’ through other devices the smart speaker is connected to

When setting the device up, be selective about what you share. If you already have a smart speaker, review what you have already shared in your profile or account. Consider whether you really need to link it to credit cards, address books or other connected devices (e.g. lights, security). Discuss the importance of using unique passwords with your child and keeping them private.

Set up parental controls on the smart speaker itself and any apps that have been linked to it. This can help reduce the risk of accessing inappropriate content (e.g. playing songs with adult lyrics). As smart speakers take information from the internet, make sure children know that the information that a smart speaker provides might not always be accurate.

Visit Internet Matters for a guide on how to set up parental controls on your smart speaker.

Keep talking with your child about how they are using the smart speaker and take an interest in the things they use it for. Remember that they may get a chance to use one unsupervised, for example, at a friend’s home. Set up a plan together about what they should do if something worrying or upsetting happens while using the smart speaker e.g. stop speaking, leave the room and tell an adult. Show them you are someone they can go with any questions or worries.

Reassure your child they have done the right thing by telling you and that you are there to listen and help. Try to remain calm and non-judgemental, to help your child feel comfortable in telling you how the issue happened.

Ask about the problem and try to find out how it happened. Was your child searching for something that you can answer instead? Smart speakers can be helpful but adults can give more personalised, age-appropriate answers to difficult questions. If something happened by accident, reassure your child it wasn’t their fault. Learn together from the experience and talk about how it could be avoided in the future. Explore the settings to see if you can do something to limit the risk of it happening again.

For help for on specific problems, see the following advice on parental controls, and misinformation.