Parents and carers have a responsibility for discussing e-safety with children and for backing up the e-safety measures that children have learned at school by reinforcing them at home.
Schools can encourage parents to do this and support them with practical tips and information.
Talking to children
Parents should be encouraged to talk to their children about what they do online. Children and parents should use technology together where relevant, learning and having fun.
By having open and ongoing conversations with children about technology, parents will also have more opportunity to talk to children about being safe and responsible online. Children are also likely to feel more comfortable about discussing any problems or concerns that they have.
Ground rules
Parents and carers are urged to set ground rules for technology use at home. Parents could adapt the school’s AUP for use at home. Parents may also set rules such as:
- Never bullying or harassing anyone online (or offline)
- Not sharing personal information
- Not arranging to meet strangers who have been met online
Parents should be encouraged to behave responsibly online themselves to set a good example for children.
A safe home environment
Parents should be encouraged to understand how to use digital devices which children use and how to use parental controls on the computer. They should understand functions such as history and favourites.
Personal information should be discussed with parents, with regards to the importance of protecting it and the risks associated with posting online.
Discuss with parents what action they can take if their child reports something unusual or uncomfortable to them about something which has happened online. Make them aware of the available reporting channels such as CEOP.
Resources
- Ofcom: Protecting your children in a digital world
- Get Safe Online: Internet Content Filtering
- DirectGov: Parents – Internet Safety
Case study
Stephen Tallent, ICT Technician, St Austin’s Primary School
As the school goes on an e-safety journey it’s important for us to know that the children are safe all the time when they’re online. We can control what the staff do and teach to the children and we can control what the children do on computers in school, but once they leave the school premises we have no idea what they’re doing.
Christine deGraft-Hanson, E-safety Co-ordinator/Deputy Headteacher, Parkwood Hall School
We really need to get as many of our parents on board and engaged with this as possible. Whatever we’re doing at school we want the parents to be doing at home.
Jo, Parent, Parkwood Hall School
It’s really important we work together with the school. They’re taking it really seriously and it is a really serious situation. It’s really the responsibility of parents to take charge of it at home. You need to look at what your children are looking at. The school give you all the information but you as a mum have to deliver it.
