NSPCC want to know about the apps your kids use - share to win a £300 voucher.NOW CLOSED

[AmeliaMumsnet]

NSPCC says: “Most parents are brilliant at keeping their child safe in the physical world, through daily chats and reminders. It should be exactly the same in the online world too, so our #ShareAware campaign aims to get parents chatting to kids about their online lives, just like they would their day at school.These chats are made much easier if Mums and Dads understand their child’s online world – what games they like and the apps they use - and we’d recommend that parents explore the games and sites their child likes, alongside them.

“So to help you, NSPCC and O2 have created Net Aware. This site (and app) provides an overview of nearly 40 of the most popular apps and games used by young people. Our site and app will give the official age and the age which parents and young people think it’s appropriate for. It also provides tips from O2 Gurus on a range of topics, including privacy settings to adjust and the chance of risky content. For more information, you can visit Net Aware or download the Net Aware app on iOS or Android.”

Did you know that 1 in 4 8-11 year olds have a social networking account, despite the minimum age for most being 13? It can be difficult to understand your DC’s activity on games and apps, especially if you don’t know how to use them yourself. That’s why NSPCC want to know about the apps and games your DC use, and how you make sure they’re staying safe. Post on this thread with your hints and tips for talking about DC’s use of apps and you’ll be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 voucher of your choice (from a list).
Whether you think Minecraft is a minefield, or you’re a pro Snapchatter, NSPCC want to know how involved you are with your DC’s apps and games. Post on the thread with your views about apps, whether or not you use them yourself, and share your tips for making sure your DC is using them safely.

One lucky MNer who posts on this thread will be randomly selected to win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

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

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

My children are only young, so i can regularly check there tablets with ease. As they grow i will talk to them regularly about the danger of cyber bulling and grooming and try to build a foundation of no secrets

My son who is 6 uses the PS4 and the iPad. These are both located in the living room, so that I can keep an eye on what he is doing. He doesn't interact with anyone online....he just plays games. It's frightening nowadays having your children online. My son had a visit to his school by NSPCC about being safe online! It's so important that we educate our kids and ourselves about internet safety!

My kids are always on their phones, computers, etc. But so am I! I didn't let them have any social network sites until they were 13, even though their friends had them. They actually didn't mind too much. They were eventually allowed accounts on the basis that I was their "friend" on there.

My son is only 4 and although we allow him use our devices for limlited times he does only has access to apps that we have installed that do not have any chat features or online content.
When the time comes that he asks to use social media/games and we allow it then we will use parental controls to limit the features available and we will always monitor the the usage/activity.

My 11 year old only uses Minecraft, I have parental controls in place. I was interested to read what NSPCC say as I know it's only a matter of time until she'll want other apps

weve discussed hoe social media is a no go for our DC until they are at least 16 or maybe even older lol- they all seem to understand the risks associated with social media.
on their ipads we have restrictions and have disabled safsri/ socail media/ messaging/ adding randomers in gaming etc- they all understand why . so far this is working for us.

they do access google and youtube but only whilst sat with an adult- mum/dad.

My dc use YouTube kids app supervised. No social media or internet based games. They are 4 and 7.

Mine craft is about the only app my son uses. We have clear rules limited screen time and no online gaming. Fortunately our internet is so poor it probably wouldn't support a game! Tablet always used with a parent present too and lots of open discussions about how people can pretend to be whatever they like online. Will check out the NSPCC website looks useful.

We use the kindle fire which allows you to create a kids account with plenty of parental controls that let you lock the App Store and non approved websites and apps.

DD is 8 and uses her tablet to watch the Ingham family's vlogs on Youtube, she is utterly entranced by them.

She has a music.ly account, which we have set up and ensured is set to 'private' and we approve any follow requests etc. We regularly check her account to see who has requested her or if she has any messages, she is very good at telling us of new requests anyway.

She has a few maths apps which have really helped her too, and a spelling test app.

My eldest Son had a facebook page at the age of 13 but olny if he gave me access to it at any time and I was a 'friend'. My younger son loves to play on ROBLOX and i feel as though I dont know enough about it to monitor his interactions. We continually remind him of safe internet rules and quesion him about his activities. This NSPCC and O2 App is a brilliant idea and I'm definately gong to be using it

I download all my DC's apps, we have no WiFi in the house, and their tablets don't have SIM cards, so no policing necessary at the moment! 😊

I do really like the sound of that app. My children do love to get on the tablet, they are allowed to use the apps we have approved and I do use parental controls. However YouTube is banned as it is impossible to police that site as it has so many questionable things on there

we block all the paid apps so limited to games like angry birds.

My 4 year old has a baby tablet that is internet enabled, but I don't turn that on unless I am using it to download new games. And the password is well hidden

I think apps can be a benefit if used right

That's a really useful website. Sometimes it's hard to find all the privacy settings to make sure they're all properly set up. I can't trust my child to do this properly as he's more interested in playing games.
He doesn't use that many apps, but it's a site I'll go back to for when he asks for a new one.

My daughter has an Instagram account and you can add it on mulitple devices so i have it on mine. I can see her messages and activity on there and friend requests etc.

Some people think its a invasion of privacy when i tell them but its my daughter and her safety is my priority.

Mine watch a lot of youtube and play on games like Talking Angela and Toms Gold run. I keep an eye on what they're doing to make sure they're safe and wouldn't let them have a Facebook account.

DS is very young still, 20mo, but already loves technology, including his tablet, a second hand Hudl that we bought to use as a a screen for his baby monitor. He has very limited screentime but really enjoys what he has.

Favourite activities are Skype/Hangouts with grandparents and uncle, nursery rhymes and Disney songs (Frozen, Moana and Sofia the First) on YouTube, and drawing/colouring apps, such as Magic Fluids and a Sofia the First colouring one, which I'm pleased about as he doesn't much like using crayons or paints. He also has two playlists on DH's Spotify account (Baby Soothe and Baby Boogie), which he enjoys and we don't count as screentime. At this age, all his screen time is fully supervised but as he gets a little older and wants to use it on his own, I plan to look into apps that restrict access to the device and talk to him about it being similar to how his access to the physical world is limited by his age and the rules we have about both are for his safety.

Thoroughly monitor but the main thing is to limit screentime from a small age as there are much other things they can be doing

My DS is 9 and an avid gamer. I'm a teacher, so I'm well aware of Internet safety, but it can still be very hard to police. For example, he likes to watch YouTubers, but if I put the child friendly filters on, he can't watch his favourite ones despite them being child friendly. Also, people have started to dub over cartoons such as Peppa Pig with bad language and sexually content but the filters assume they are safe for children!

He plays Roblox on the Xbox One and despite his profile being on lock down (he can't add friends, hear strangers in party chat, join strangers gamers etc) he still receives messages from other Xbox users and there is no way to turn them off. They can be explicit.

He also likes to play a Star Wars game with his friends online which is a 12A. We have deemed this game to be safe for him to play (it's not graphic like Call of Duty or GTA!) yet because his profile is locked down, even if we turn the locks off, he cannot be granted access to the game because EA has forbidden it. That was a waste of £55!

Aside from all this, he's very tech savvy and is aware of the dangers himself. He uses his phone to cast movies to his TV, he codes, he is allowed limited access to Instagram and Whatsapp (family only) and adores gaming in particular Minecraft. It's a shame that the features that should be there to protect children aren't working well enough.

My 3 yr old has/my tablet with YouTube kids on which is locked to her age group, a ABC program for her learning locked down.
8yr old same but own tablet and a DS
10 yr old girl as again the same to her age, DS that's it,
No online accounts, no purchases etc

My son uses minecraft and YouTube I worry about the games that you can buy coins or gems for as it's so easy just to click on it , I have locked them down so he can't spend money on them, I think fb and twitter has to much adult content for him to see so he won't have either until he is 14

I'm relatively knowledgeable about social media and apps as I'm a teacher, but my daughters (as of yet) really only use ceebebies. We use educational apps like peppa pig and various other things.. but I'm aware of lots of other forms.
I think we'll hopefully encourage the kids to be wise, but know that social media is always public, and to be aware of their footprint.
I'm very wary of social media as I pick up the effects of snapchat, sharing platforms etc.. but I suppose forewarned is forearmed...