First Federation Trust
Some ideas to get you talking:
Top 5 questions to ask your children.... (Part 1)
Make sure you give your child space (physical and time) to answer you. Often these conversations are best somewhere like in the car--for some reason when you are both looking ahead at the road, it's easier for your child to be open with you.
1. What are your friends doing online?
This question directs the attention away from your child and toward the general online activities in his or her crowd. You want your children to give you honest feedback, so you must reassure them you won't punish them for their answers. Your children will likely tell you about activities such as gaming, chatting, building social networks, and even doing homework or research.
2. What are the coolest or newest websites?
Ask your child to tell you why these sites are cool. You can also ask about the sites that aren't popular anymore and why.
3. Would you show me your favorite sites?
Show you are interested. Ask your child about using security or privacy settings (look at the top and bottom of the screen for those areas of the site). Ask your child how he or she uses the site and why these sites are favorites.
4. What do you know about cyberbullying?
Your child may not know cyberbullying by name, but he or she knows what it looks and feels like. Talk about stories you've read or seen on the news regarding nasty emails, embarrassing photos, and personal information that was shared or sent around to other kids without consent. Ask about fake social network postings or cruel online quizzes about a classmate. Find out if your child has ever heard of this stuff going on. Make sure your children know cyberbullying is incredibly common, and if they haven't seen any yet, it's only a matter of time until they do. Make sure they know how to react when it does (don't respond, save it, block it, and report it to Mum or dad or another adult).
5. When you've been online, have you ever seen anything weird or that made you feel uncomfortable?
This is an opportunity to discuss cyberbullying, accidental browsing discoveries such as porn or racist sites, or even something weird involving a friend or peer in the neighborhood. The idea is to make sure your child knows he or she can come to you and not be punished when something bad happens online. Experiencing something bad is almost inevitable when your child is active on the Internet. Make sure your child knows it is okay to go to you for help and you won't overreact.
Extra Questions for Families with Older Children:-
Do you really know everybody on your friends list?
Do you ever get messages from strangers? How do you handle them?
Do you know anyone who's gone to meet someone offline they'd been talking to online?
Are people in your group of friends ever mean to each other online or on phones? What do they say? Have they ever been mean to you? Would you tell me if they were?
Sometimes kids take nude or sexy photos and send them to others. Has that ever happened at your school?
This page is for adults to learn how to support children when they are on the internet, in order to ensure that it is as safe as possible for them to enjoy all the benefits it provides, and avoiding some of the problem areas. We will provide links every week and add to them to provide a database of useful sites.
By popular demand, many parents would like some practical guidance on how to set up parental controls on computers, devices, gaming etc so follow the link below that will take you through a practical 'how to'.
When you have entered website click on 'guidance to setting parental controls and filters' then scroll down and click 'guide to parental controls' and you will then see an image of a house. Click on the rooms to get specific guidance for whatever device you want to protect.
Support for parents www.internetmatters.org
UK Safer Internet Centre www.saferinternet.org.uk
Report abuse, grooming or inappropriate content www.ceop.police.uk/ceop-reporting/