Home Safer Internet Day 2023 Parents and carers Getting your child involved in online safety

SAFER INTERNET DAY

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Back to advice for parents and carers
2023
Find out more and get involved

Safer Internet Day –
7th February 2023

Take a look a the free resources, videos, supporters registrations and more!

How can I get my child involved with online safety?

With technology becoming increasingly relevant to children and young people – whether through education, socialising, or gaming – knowing how to stay safe online is a key skill for them to learn.

Activities for use as a family

There are many resources which you can use to introduce online safety to your child, whatever their age may be. These include activities to do as a whole family. Take a look below at some of the activities you can get involved with right now:

COMING SOON: Safer Internet Day Quizzes

Whilst our quizzes for the next chapter of Safer Internet Day are yet to become live on the website, you can still head to the homepages of previous Safer Internet Day installments and test your online safety knowledge together with your child.
Simply hover over the Safer Internet Day tab at the top of the website, select the year, then click on the quiz specific to your child’s age group!

Make a Family Agreement

Childnet’s Family Agreement is a great way to start a conversation with your whole family about how you all use the internet. It’s also great to start discussions together around how to behave in a positive way when online, whether this is at home, at school or at a friend’s.

https://www.childnet.com/resources/family-agreement/

Moving on Up

Childnet’s Moving on Up toolkit is mostly tailored towards young people transitioning from primary to secondary school.
This is a fantastic opportunity to introduce online safety learning, as technology may be becoming more prominent in new ways within their lives.
There are resources for parents and carers to use to facilitate the online aspects of the transition in your child’s education.
It includes the first phone checklist, which is not specific to any age – instead, it’s there for when you decide it is the right time for your child to own their first smartphone, whilst helping you with any considerations and thoughts that you may want some advice about.

https://www.childnet.com/resources/moving-on-up/

Activities for under 11s

Whilst children aged under 11 will be spending more time using the internet and devices on platforms and games appropriate for their age group, there are still resources out there for parents and carers to use to introduce online safety.

Hanni and the Magic Window

For ages: 3-7
Written for children aged 3 and up, this rhyming story is about speaking out and getting help.
This story can be viewed as an eBook or is available to download in English and Welsh.

https://www.childnet.com/resources/hanni-and-the-magic-window/

Digiduck series

For ages: 3-7
There are five stories in the Digiduck series to introduce the basics of online safety to children aged 3-7. These books cover topics such as being a good friend online; the reliability of information; online gaming and positive uses of the internet.

https://www.childnet.com/resources/digiduck-stories/

Learning to read book

For ages: 4 and above
On the internet is a learning-to-read book for children aged 4 and above.
There are also puzzles at the end of the story to make the experience as interactive as possible!

https://www.childnet.com/resources/a-learning-to-read-book/

The Adventures of Kara, Winston and the SMART Crew

For ages: 7-11
Childnet’s SMART resources are there to provide families, professionals and young people with a memorable strategy to learn and revise five key pillars of online safety.
To aid with the learning of the SMART rules, Childnet have five amazing cartoons for 7-11 year olds. Follow the Adventures of Kara, Winston and the SMART Crew as they make safe online decisions!
In addition, our SMART video lessons are for families to use at home, and can even be adapted for educators and professionals.

https://www.childnet.com/resources/the-adventures-of-kara-winston-and-the-smart-crew/

Activities for 11-18s

Safer Internet Day Advice

Did you know that you can go back through previous chapters of Safer Internet Day and look at the advice sections – whether together with your child or them independently – explore the advice for 11-18s section.
Containing top tips, films and quizzes, there’s so much for young people aged 11-18 to explore to ensure they become online safety whizzes!

Childnet’s advice for 11-18s

Created specificially for teenagers, Childnet have created helpful information and guidance on a range of key online safety topics.
This includes advice around issues such as medical misinformation, digital wellbeing, screen time, location services and many other key topics.

https://www.childnet.com/help-and-advice/11-18-year-olds

Internet Matters

Internet Matters is a website to help parents and carers keep young people safe online.
They have a helpful checklist on their website on how to support teens (14+) online, including a video, guides, and apps for your child to download to find out more.

https://www.internetmatters.org/advice/14plus/#apps

BBC Bitesize

For Key Stage 2 learners (age 11-16), Bitesize has an eSafety guide to help teenagers think before they share personal information online.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zrtrd2p/revision/1

Thinkuknow

Teenagers can explore to receive specialist advice from CEP Education at the National Crime Agency.

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/11_18/