Tips for Parents for a Safe Online Environment for their Children at Home

The Office of the eSafety Commissioner has some information to help parents provide safe online environments for their children at home.

Parents can set up a combination of filtering tools, parental controls on devices, settings within apps and safe search browsers. 

Here are some links;
Tips for parents of young children

An article comparing filters

Filtering Software
Searching Safely

Parental Controls on Devices

Parental controls from internet service providers

Movies and Games

Security - App Settings for Tablets

iParent

Are your children using ​the apps ​Instagram, musical.ly, Roblox, Facebook, live.ly or Periscope​ at home?​

Urgent Information about Apps, Cybersafety Resources and a Digital Literacy Survey for Parents

Dear Parents,

Last week, School Principals from our area received up-to-date information on cybersafety at a special meeting held by North Sydney Police. An educator from The Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner, who presented at the meeting, recommended the following information be passed on to parents.

Apps of concern

There are some popular apps causing concern. Within these apps, unless the settings are changed, anyone can have direct contact with your child via live chat. These apps have an age limit of 13+. Dangers such as the potential for online grooming are of concern to Police.

The most popular of these apps are:

Instagram, musical.ly and    Roblox

The eSafety Commissioner’s Website provides an alphabetical listing of apps, with direct links to change privacy settings.. The links also provide safety guides for parents.

Live Video Streaming Apps of Concern

There are a new wave of video streaming apps which provide live streaming from smart phones, tablets and computers. Some of the apps allow the user to stream live video of themselves or others. These apps can geo-tag the user’s location, causing concerns that a child address could be identified by another person if they were to stream live.

The most popular of these apps are:

Facebook, live.ly and Periscope.

The eSafety Commissioner’s Website provides an alphabetical listing of apps, with direct links to change privacy settings.. The links also provide safety guides for parents.

Be aware: the posting of abusive material (videos. photographs and comments) is on the increase nationally.

Incidents of cyberbullying and Image-based abuse are increasing. While it is more prevalent Australia wide in secondary schools, the eSafety Commissioner has reported an increase in complaints received nationally across primary schools.

Reporting of incidents

If you or your child need to report an incident, the eSafety Commissioner has outlined places to go here.

1. Police
As always for all matters requiring urgent attention call 000.

To report any information you can also call Crimestoppers Australia on 1800 333 000.

2. Contact the website directly to remove the content
The eSafety Commissioner has informed us they have set up partnerships with many of the major companies. They have consultants who can respond quickly to incidents and work to ensure that the photograph, video or offensive comment Is removed quickly. This starts the process of removal as soon as possible.

THEN contact

3.. Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner

They have a 24-hour counselling service and the steps to lodge an online report. Here is the  online form.

Settings in Apps

The eSafety Commissioner’s Website provides an alphabetical listing of apps, with direct links to change privacy settings.. The links also provide safety guides for parents.

.

Further Resources to assist parents

For further details and resources the eSafety Commissioner’s website has valuable resources to assist families. iParent is a valuable website to bookmark. It is well resourced with videos and games on eSafety for children to view.

Digital Citizenship Resources

Digital Citizenship

Being safe, positive and responsible online.
Be safe online at all times
Do not reveal your personal information to anyone over the internet and do not give that of other students or friends.
Do not use another individual's account or pretend to be someone else.
Children under the age of 13 years should NOT have a Facebook, KiK, Snapchat, Instagram account. (Parents please note).
Be polite. Do not get abusive in your messages to others.
Use appropriate language. Do not swear, use vulgarities or any other inappropriate language.
If you cannot access your account, alert your teacher. Likewise, never share your password.
Students must not publish photographs or videos on any online network or site without the permission of the teacher.
Take frequent breaks and avoid using the device for long periods of time. Your parents will set limits for you at home and you must respect these limits. (Parents could remove the device after a certain time each evening).

Resources
eSafety for parents - Cyberbullying Chatterbox Parental controls | Office of the Children's eSafety Commissioner eSafety for parents - Inappropriate content eSafety for parents - Online grooming eSafety for parents - Too much time online eSafety for parents - Basics | Office of the Children's eSafety Commissioner

Protect Your Kids Online

Parent Cybersmart Toolbox

Trinity & Franco's Cybersafety Site

Digital Citizenship NSW DET

How Cybersmart are you?

Links to useful documents:
href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzRkfobv2cjGNXBJbElIVmU1WFU/edit?usp=sharing">ACMA Digital Citizens' Guide
Australian Govt Cybersafety Resources Initiatives
McAfee Tween Teens Technology

References:
Australian Communications and Media Authority, 2012. CyberSmart
Parental restriction controls for iPad:
(Article from Apple)
https://www.esafety.gov.au/education-resources/parent-resources/esafety-for-parents-inappropriate-content

Catholic Education Office Digital Citizenship Links