The internet is obviously a wonderful place for your children to learn, interact and have fun and our website doesn’t contain anything that will cause concern, however your children should also be made aware of the potential risks of using the internet. Here’s a little guide so you can help them use the web safely.

Things that may cause concern on other websites:
• Sharing information like email addresses and phone numbers could lead to unsolicited contact from unwanted people and advertisers, or identity theft
• Children may at times come across disturbing information or images
• Sharing or downloading files could be illegal and/or lead to viruses on your machine
• Children can be the victims of bullying online
• Other people can pretend to be anyone they want – beware striking up new friendships online as paedophiles may be looking to groom, or even meet children under the guise of another persona

Guide
1. Open up free dialogue with your child about what they’re doing online – take an interest and make sure they feel comfortable talking to you about anything they see that concerns them.
2. Understand that the internet can be accessed not just on home computers but also some mobile phones, games consoles and TVs – the same rules apply for each.
3. Place the family computer in a common area of the house, not out of sight in bedrooms or studies.
4. Agree what sites are safe and check regularly with your children about what new sites they’re visiting.
5. Tell you child to keep their identity safe – never send or publish pictures of themselves, or give out addresses and other contact information.
6. Encourage common sense. Instant messages, emails and so on from unknown people should be treated with suspicion, especially if they contain attachments – delete them.
7. Help your child understand that some people can lie online, hiding their true identity. They should never meet anyone they’ve met only without talking to you about it first.
8. Tell your child never to respond to inappropriate messages from friends or strangers. Abusive, threatening or obscene content should be reported to you before they take any further action themselves.

Useful links
• The NSPCC website has some great tips for parents and guardians
• ChildLine offers advice on surfing safely for children and young people
• The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre works to stop child abuse on the internet. Parents and young people can use this site to report abuse or attempted abuse
• Thinkuknow is CEOP's website specifically for children and provides them with information on internet safety
• Websafe Crackerz is a web safety site from MSN
• Childnet International works in partnership with others around the world to help make the internet a great and safe place for children
• Internet Watch Foundation Hotline is the UK’s hotline for reporting illegal content on the Internet