Technology is a powerful tool that has had many positive impacts on our lives, however, we need to be mindful of how it is used, including in the home.
There are some helpful tools and strategies that can be put in place to help develop online safety at home. These include using parental controls, knowing the devices you have in your home and how they operate, and having regular conversations with your children about online safety.
Many parental controls are now available to parents that are easy to use. Parental controls can be set on your home network (using your wi-fi router), on specific devices (such as laptops, mobiles, gaming consoles and smart TVs), in apps including streaming services (such as Netflix) and web browsers, and using third-party software. Parental controls can be used to block access to specific sites or content, set time limits, filter access to content and monitor your children’s access to certain site.
The following video contains some helpful information about the different parental controls:
Knowing the devices in your home and how they operate is important for parents in assessing the various risks associated with each device. As well as the risks posed by hardware such as laptops, mobiles and gaming consoles, apps and programs are another source of potential online safety issues. Knowing which apps and programs your children are using and being proactive about what your children are accessing can help prevent potential issues from occurring.
Regularly engaging with your children about online safety issues they may be facing is an important strategy in helping to develop cyber safety practices. If this conversation happens regularly, it will help to establish a common language and expectations about safe online practices.
For helpful online safety resources for parents, please visit the https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents
Mrs Megan Bennett
Director of ICT
