While there are huge benefits to being online to stay connected to family and friends, the government recognises many parents feel concerned about the activities and content their children are accessing.
It is important to have regular conversations about staying safe online and to encourage children to speak to you if they come across something worrying online.
Talk to your child about the importance of creating a safe online environment, including keeping any log-in details and passwords safe and guiding them through their online activities.
It's really important for parents to make sure their children are safe when they use the internet. Here's why:
1.Protection from in appropriate content
The internet has good and bad things. Children might see things that aren't suitable for them, get bullied online, or even meet people who want to do harm. Making sure they stay safe online helps protect them from these dangers.
2.Growing Up Healthy
Spending too much time on the internet without supervision can affect how children grow up emotionally and socially. Making sure they have a safe online experience helps them grow up in a healthy way.
3.Privacy and Safety
We need to teach children about keeping things private online and using strong passwords. This way, they develop good habits to stay safe on the internet.
4.Knowing How to Use the Internet
By keeping an eye on what children do online, parents help them learn how to use the Internet wisely. This means understanding what's true or false online, being responsible in digital spaces, and recognising online dangers.
5.Stopping Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is a big problem, and parents can help prevent it. Watching how children interact online helps parents spot signs of bullying and step in when needed.
6.Balancing Screen Time
Too much time in front of screens can be bad for a child's health. Parents can help by making sure children have a good balance between online activities and other experiences.
7.Building Trust and Talking
Talking openly about online safety helps build trust between parents and children. When children feel safe talking about their online experiences, parents can guide and support them better.
8.Being Legal and Ethical
Parents have a job to make sure their children know the rules and act responsibly online. This means respecting others' privacy, not copying things from the internet without permission, and understanding that there are consequences for bad online behaviour.
9.Avoiding Too Much Internet
Using the Internet too much, especially social media and online games, can become a problem. Parents can help by keeping an eye on screen time and encouraging a healthy balance.
10.Getting Ready for the Future
Since technology is a big part of our lives, teaching children how to be responsible online is preparing them for the future. It's like giving them a skill they'll need in the digital world.
In the end, keeping children safe online is about watching over them, teaching them, and talking with them. It's a big part of being a good parent in the age of the Internet.
What Age children can access the internet?
According to Ofcom research, 81% of 12-15 year-olds said they had a potentially harmful experience online, and three in ten 12-15 year olds said they had seen something worrying or nasty online.
Common Senses Media advised, the age children begin is entirely up to you. Lots of kids start playing around online as young as the toddler years, but many parents wait until kids are in elementary school to get them started. Some parents worry that if they don't introduce little kids to the internet, their kids will be left behind once they start school.
But that's not necessarily true.
Even though there are wonderful learning apps and sites for young kids, the best thing for their development remains the same as its always been: talking, reading, singing, making eye contact, and supporting their curiosity provides the essential foundation for all learning. Keep that up, and your kids will have no trouble figuring out the online world. If you want your young kids to use the internet, these guidelines will give you and your kid a strong start:
Sit with little kids -- at least at first -- so you can explain what they see.
Find age-appropriate sites and apps with high learning potential.
Instill the idea of balance early by putting a time limit on your sessions. Some apps, such as YouTube Kids, allow you to set a timer which shuts down the program.
Avoid just-before-bed computer time. It can be stimulating and interrupt sleep.
Use the internet to bond with family and friends by videochatting with a program such as FaceTime.
At GCCMI we will advise children can access the internet from age 14 but under supervision while from age18 under minimal parental supervision . Age under 14 should not access the internet bt in a rare situation if they have to ,this will need parental control and maximum supervision.
Having said these, regardless the age you decided to expose your children to the internet, pls ensure they re well trained for it.
See one of our GCCMI YouTube videos for Children tips for accessing internet. Please WATCH it here - https://cl.gy/PQlls
How much time do children spend online?
In the UK, Children aged eight to 17 spend between two and five hours online per day, research by the communications regulator Ofcom suggests, external. Time spent online increases with age.
Nearly every child over 12 has a mobile phone and almost all of them watch videos on platforms such as YouTube or TikTok.
Four in five teenagers who go online say they have used artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT or Snapchat's MyAI.
About half of children over 12 think being online is good for their mental health, external, according to Ofcom.
But there is a significant minority for whom that is not the case. One in eight children aged eight to 17 said someone had been nasty or hurtful to them on social media, or messaging apps.
The Children's Commissioner said that half of the 13-year-olds her team surveyed reported seeing "hardcore, misogynistic" pornographic material on social media sites.
What is the Online Safety Bill?
The new law puts the onus on firms to protect children from some legal but harmful material, with the regulator, Ofcom, being given extra enforcement powers.
It introduces new rules such as requiring pornography sites to stop children viewing content by checking ages.
Platforms will also need to show they are committed to removing illegal content including:
child sexual abuse
controlling or coercive behaviour
extreme sexual violence
illegal immigration and people smuggling
promoting or facilitating suicide
promoting self-harm
animal cruelty
selling illegal drugs or weapons
terrorism
Other new offences have been created, including cyber-flashing - sending unsolicited sexual imagery online - and the sharing of "deepfake" pornography, where AI is used to insert someone's likeness into pornographic material.
What have technology companies said about the new rules?
Meta and Snapchat said they already had extra protections for under-18s and highlighted their existing parental tools.
"As a platform popular with young people, we know we have additional responsibilities to create a safe and positive experience," a Snapchat representative said.
A Meta representative said it wanted young people "to connect with others in an environment where they feel safe".
"Content that incites violence, encourages suicide, self-injury or eating disorders breaks our rules - and we remove that content when we find it," they said.
A number of other technology companies contacted by BBC News declined to respond to the draft measures.
For more information about online safety for both children and adult
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