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Watching and browsing online advice hub

Watching and browsing online

Children love streaming videos and browsing the web—it’s a fun way to learn and relax. But it’s important to guide them to safe, age-appropriate content.

This guide will help you  support children to agree to digital boundaries, make smart choices, and building healthy online habits.

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A child wearing headphones, sitting on a sofa and holding a smartphone, looking at the screen.

Supporting children watching and browsing online

According to Ofcom, the online safety regulator, a significant majority of children are watching online videos regularly. and browsing the internet. This represents over 90% of children. Explore the hub to get help on the best ways to navigate parental controls, set healthy screen time habits, and encourage safe, age-appropriate online activities.

Quick tips
How to support safe watching and browsing

Use parental controls to limit access to content suitable for your child’s age group. Most platforms, like Netflix, YouTube Kids, and BBC iPlayer, offer child-friendly settings that block inappropriate videos and shows.

Tip: Regularly review settings as your child grows older and their interests change.

Spending too much time online can lead to tiredness, reduced focus, and even affect emotional well-being. Establish screen time limits to ensure a healthy balance between online and offline activities.

Ideas for balance:

  • Encourage device-free meals and bedtime routines.
  • Set a daily limit for streaming or browsing.
  • Use timers to remind kids when it’s time to take a break.

Watching and browsing together lets you guide your child’s choices while creating opportunities to bond and discuss what they’re consuming.

Ways to get involved:

  • Share family-friendly shows or YouTube channels you both enjoy.
  • Discuss what they’ve watched—ask questions about characters or lessons from the content.
  • Use educational videos as a springboard for learning new skills or exploring interests.

Help your child understand the importance of staying safe while exploring the internet. Encourage them to stick to trusted sites and avoid clicking on unfamiliar links or ads.

Top tips for safety:

  • Use child-friendly browsers or search engines like Kiddle or Swiggle.
  • Explain the risks of sharing personal information online.
  • Show them how to recognise and avoid fake news or clickbait.

What you’ll find in this Guide:

  • Practical tips on managing access to content and using parental controls.
  • How to set boundaries and encourage healthy online habits.
  • Ways to teach children how to stay secure and make smart choices online.

How to create a safe viewing environment

Creating balanced screentime

Safe browsing for children

Supporting children with additional needs

Some children with additional needs can spend hours browsing or streaming, particularly if it relates to a special interest. However, research shows that these children are at more risk than other children of coming across content which is harmful.

They might struggle to process what they see, worry they’ll get in trouble if they tell you or don’t fully understand the risk.

The following tips can help your child become a mindful browser and viewer of content online.

Autoplay features and endless scroll can make it difficult for a child with additional needs (or anyone) to stop.

Wherever possible, turn off watch history, recommendations and autoplay. This can help introduce natural stop points for your child when they watch content.

In addition to turning off watch history and recommendations wherever you can, make sure you curate content feeds. This could include adding hidden words, showing your child how to block content or turning on filters to only show specific content.

This can help counter algorithms which sometimes push controversial or content which is difficult for children with additional needs to navigate.

The online space is filled with persuasive design to keep people engaged. For some children with additional needs, this can make it easy to become overstimulated.

Where possible, use accessibility features to reduce sensory clutter. This can include reducing screen brightness, using an ad blocker, using ‘read-only’ modes or putting limits on volume levels.

More in the hub

Supporting resources

See the latest articles to support children online and find resources to help them make smarter and safer choices online.

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