How to Keep Your Kids Safe Online During Half Term

Officers from the Cyber Crime Team are offering parents advice on how to keep their children safe online ahead of the half term school break next week.

• Check with your internet service provider what free parental control software they provide. This can restrict your child’s access to certain websites/ content.
• Search ‘Parental Control’ in the app store on your phone. There are many apps which allow you to keep track on your child’s phone/device and what they are doing on social media, what they searching on the internet or what apps they are downloading. There is even location tracking in some of the apps to keep an eye on where your children are!
• Look at the age rating of any games – is it age appropriate? Be aware: Some games with a low age rating still allow you to chat to other gamers (strangers) online. These chats can be turned off in the settings of the gaming device.
• If your child has social media, ensure their accounts are set to private and disable location services - do your friends and followers really need to know your child’s exact location?
• Speak to your children about the dangers of chatting to strangers online and tell them not to share personal details or photos of themselves online and advise your child to alert you if they are approached Some people aren’t who they say they are.
• Enable a two factor authentication in order to access a device or game. This means two distinct forms of identification are required to access them and it strengthens the security of your accounts.

Some of our partner agencies also offer some fantastic advice on how to keep your children safe online which can be found below.

Child Line: https://rb.gy/fq0qwt

Get Safe Online: https://rb.gy/t0fd3s

NSPCC: https://rb.gy/tqehmk

National Online Safety: https://rb.gy/ucqqxm

If you believed your child has been targeted online contact Cleveland Police on 101. Always call 999 in an emergency.