Today children in Y1-Y6 have had a visit from Bedfordshire Police to talk about staying safe online. They may talk to you about what they have learnt or discussed. Many children were shocked about age limits of online gaming platforms, that many of them use.  

Online life and offline life is just life

For many of us, we see our online lives and offline lives as different, but children are growing up with technology and the internet and for them there isn’t a difference; online life and offline life is just life.

Technology can move at an extraordinarily fast pace and it can be difficult to know how to start talking to your child about what they’re doing online, who they might be speaking to or discussing the potential risks and issues.  

Starting the conversation

Talking regularly with your child is the greatest tool to help keep them safe online. Talking regularly and making it part of daily conversation, like you would about their day at school, will help your child feel relaxed. It also means when they do have any worries, they’re more likely to come and speak to you.

But it can also be easy to become overwhelmed with the different technology, the language that children use, the huge number of games and apps which are available and the potential risks.  

Actions to take to stay safe online

• Security settings to ‘FRIENDS ONLY’ (people they know and trust in the real world)
• Only post photos and content they would be happy to show their granny ·     
• Use the CEOP icon to report any issues that are not safe online https://www.ceop.police.uk/Safety-Centre/
• Don’t share personal information online
• Turn off webcams and don’t use them with people you don’t know
• Delete people that make you feel uncomfortable and tell an adult

Please remind children that they can always talk to an adult at home or school if they feel unsafe online.