Use these practical tips to help your teen have a safer online experience
Stay involved
Keep talking and stay interested in what they’re doing. Don’t be afraid to bring up challenging issues such as sexting, pornography and cyberbullying. It could be embarrassing, but you’ll both benefit from it being out in the open.
Keep their information private
Your child can set privacy settings on most social networking sites so that only close friends can search for them, tag them in a photograph or share what they’ve posted.
Be responsible
Talk to your teenager about being responsible when they’re online. Children often feel they can say things online that they wouldn’t say face-to-face. Teach them to always have respect for themselves and others online.
Talk about online reputation
Let them know that anything they upload, email or message could stay around forever online. Remind them they should only do things online that they wouldn’t mind you, their teacher or a future employer seeing.
Don’t give in
Remind them how important it is not to give in to peer pressure to send inappropriate comments or images.
And finally… don’t despair if images are shared
People under 18 can now use a new online tool to help them remove nude images or videos of themselves from the internet. Created by the Internet Watch Foundation and Childline, it aims to help children who’ve been groomed, or who have partners who’ve posted images of them online. For information, visit childline.org.uk and search for ‘Report Remove’.