Tell NSPCC about the family rules you have to keep safe online - chance to win a £300 voucher NOW CLOSED

[AmeliaMumsnet]

NSPCC have teamed up with O2 to launch their #ShareAware campaign. Here’s what they have to say: ‘We tell our children to share, but online it’s different. In fact, sometimes sharing online can be dangerous. That’s why we’ve joined forces with O2 to ask parents to be Share Aware and keep children safe online. With the internet changing all the time it can be hard to keep up to date but our Net Aware guide gives an overview of the sites young people use. . Our straightforward, no-nonsense advice will untangle the web, and show you how you can be just as great a parent online as you are the rest of the time.’

As a parent, your main priority is to keep your self and your family safe, and this means agreeing on some rules for when you’re surfing the web, for both you and your child. As part of their #ShareAware campaign to keep children safe online, NSPCC and O2 want to know about the family agreements you have in place to make sure you and your DC stay out of trouble - the family contracts you have in place within your home to help things run smoothly.

So, maybe you always make sure there’s an adult present when your DC is online or have you agreed to not share images of your child without their permission? Perhaps no one is allowed on their phones at the table. Every family has a set of rules that works for them, so post on this thread to tell NSPCC and O2 about your family agreements and you’ll be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 voucher of your choice (from a list).

For more information, or to download your family agreement template, visit Share Aware
here to download your family online agreement template.

Thanks so much for taking part, and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply.

[mumsbe]

Both children age 4 and 9 can not go on their tablets unsupervised. I always discuss with them if anything unusual appears or someone trys to contact them through a app they must tell us straight away. But we always check what they are doing anyway.

[Cupcakeicecream]

My dd is old enough now to remember a password. Its a secret code word only relevant to us. Anybody who collects my dd or babysits has to know the password. That way my dd knows she is safe to trust them. If someone tried dd knows to mention it to say a teacher if it seems suspicious if they dont know the password she knows not to trust them.Its easy to say dont talk to strangers but people who that are there to help are essentially strangers such as a doctor or policeman.Im teaching to realise about suspicious behaviour in strangers for instance being nice and sweet and automatically change to a more aggressive nature if you say no normal people would respect it and not be persistant. Ive also taught road safety the green cross code stop look listen learn many people alway seem distracted by phones.

[AmateurSwami]

Apart from talking to them about what's appropriate and watching what they play/watch, I'm trying to drum it into them that they're never going to get into trouble for coming to tell me if someone has said something inappropriate to them. I want them to feel they can tell me whatever has been said and we can discuss it. Someone tried to trade a Pokemon to my son with a racist slur as it's nickname, he knew to come to me and we spoke about why the word was wrong.

[DoItTooJulia]

Never, ever give out personal details, including name, age, address (or even a vague mention of where we live), school, sibling names, gender, ANYTHING personal, ever.

[olivia280177]

My 2 youngest are 6 and 7 and they are allowed online downstairs with my husband or me present but are only allowed on games we have authorised by a parental control function my husband has put in place.
My 15 year old is very sensible and knows how he should behave online, he does't use social media very much at all, he likes YouTube for gaming and football clips. They are not allowed devices in bed or at the dinner table.

[Sammyislost]

My kids are allowed to use their iPads by themselves, I trust them and have blocked them from accessing 18+ content and purchasing things. They both play Roblox online and have been told they aren't allowed to add any strangers as 'friends' and I have set their settings so only their actual friends can contact them. I've spoken about the dangers of not knowing who people really are online (and they've watched MTV Catfish with me and seen how people can lie about who they are!) and I've explained that we don't share our real names, or address, or passwords etc. They're smart. They know if they want to continue using their iPads, they need to be trusted.

[Ren1974]

My son is 9 and my daughter is 5.

All tablets, Playstations, laptop etc that we have are in the living room and my husband and i are in the room when the children are using them.

My sons gaming systems, such as the Playstation 4, is for solo playing only and he does not play in an online multi player environment.

The children are not connected to any social media sites, and to be honest, they have not shown any interest in them as yet. They do however watch shows/music videos on Youtube but as we are in the room, we can hear what they are listening to (my daughter once clicked onto a fake Peppa Pig episode and I could hear straight away in was not suitable for children).

The children's school held an internet safety week last year and they both still remember how to stay safe online. My son even recently learnt that his best friend had bypassed his mum's parental block on her laptop and he was so worried about his friends safety, he told his class teacher who informed the boys mum.

I feel pretty reassured that my children can stay safe a present but the teenage years will be here before we know it!

[vickyors]

I don't let my daughters go on any device without supervision. They are relatively little: 4 and 1. The four year old is only really able to access BBC kids' programmes. On the online safety front, we teach about that 'feeling in your tummy' if you ever were shown something that didn't make you feel quite right.: and we use 'my underpants rule' song! I'm in education, so I'm aware that openness is best.

[goldenretriever1978]

I am always open with my children and discuss potential dangers. I find that parental controls help to ease my anxiety around the subject.

[Theimpossiblegirl]

My DDs are teens now, so are allowed a lot more freedom and are pretty savvy, but only because we've been working on Online Safety together for years. Their school has given pretty good training too. I consider it a joint effort.

Our main rules now involve being very selective about who they accept (they need to know them in real life) and protecting their digital footprint- knowing not to share anything that could make them look bad or put them in a vulnerable position.

The NSPCC and O2 are a great partnership. They will come and do a talk at your children's school if you get them to request it. Sensible, realistic and honest advice.

[theresamustgo]

We should have more oversight, I know. I think talking a lot about what they are doing and what can go wrong has been our method. Also they are given a lot of advice at school.

[Alexandra87]

My dc 6,5 & 2 are only allowed online under supervision

[voyager50]

He is only 7 so thankfully social media is not an options yet - I don't use it myself but when he is old enough i may have to set up an account just so I can see what he is doing online.

For now he is only allowed access to the internet if an adult is with him.

[TellMeItsNotTrue]

Regular reminders about Internet safety - people not necessarily being who they say they are, not giving out any information including stuff you don't think could do any harm like what school they go to, come to us if something doesn't feel right etc

All Internet accessible devices kept downstairs so they aren't used unsupervised

Only talking to friends, asking about new websites or apps before going on, we have passwords to all accounts

[Mummychoochoo3]

My dc are very young. My son only likes to watch peppa pig and will tell if anything else pops up. My daughter is 5 and she can navigate easily. She can only use it at certain times of the day and only to watch nice things. If she thinks anything comes up that is very nice she must tell us. We are always in the room with her and volume is loud enough for us to hear. I

[Falconhoof1]

My 12 year old has a blocker set on Google and YouTube which doesn't allow inappropriate sites/videos. She also knows not to give our personal details on line.

[daisyduke66]

I've always openly discussed the possible dangers of the internet with my children from a young age, at the same time as stressing the positives. I think this worked. They're now old enough for me not to worry about blockers and the like but are absolutely only too aware of the type of things to avoid and the dangers 'out there'. Discussion works.

[CopperPan]

My dc are older so they use online gaming and social media a lot. I ensure they never use real life names or give away information like location or name of school. They also use different usernames on different sites. We use Lastpass to protect our online passwords.

[Hrosem]

My 3 year old and 18 month old are only allowed to use the internet with complete adult supervision. As they get older i will be making full use of the parental controls on my security.

[sharond101]

We use parental supervision and keeping notes here for when they get older.

[Ogochukwu27]

Blocked all social media from their gadgets. Can't download any app without parent supervision. Limit time on gadgets

[Whatwankeryisthis]

Our DS4 only uses occasional apps, has no access to the actual Internet.

Our DD12 uses some social media, not FB. We have access to everything and check regularly. She only follows her friends and adults she knows in real life.

We have parental controls set up for Internet use, YouTube etc, although I often feel these can be quite selective with material e.g. It'll allow you to watch Miley Cyrus swinging about provocatively and naked on her wrecking ball but blocks other things I feel are much tamer!

[georgedawes]

We have a pin on the ipad that only DH and I know, DD is only allowed on it when we say and we have to be in the same room. Works well so far, but will probably have to adapt as she gets older and more tech savvy!

[andywedge]

Parental controls installed on all gadgets, tablets, computers, PS4, WiiU, DS etc

[janeyf1]

I limit use of tablets because I don't think excessive use is healthy. We allow 90 mins max during weekday evenings and 2 hours each day at weekends. I keep an eye on what the little one is doing online by looking over her shoulder and asking if she has anything interesting to show me