Back to primary school online safety guide

You can use this family agreement template or simply write your agreement out on paper you can display in your home. As a family, agree on boundaries around:

• How tech is used when you’re home for school and work.
• Where devices can and cannot be used at home (screen-free zones can include bedrooms and the dinner table, for example).
• Which off-device tasks need to be completed before screens can be used. This could include schoolwork such as reading and Maths or eating a family meal.
• When devices need to go away ahead of bedtime. The most successful limit is when everyone in the family adheres to this. So, if your child can’t use devices past 6PM, they shouldn’t see anyone else using devices past this time either.

As your child grows, gets used to the schooltime routine and starts to develop their understanding of online safety, revisit this agreement and make changes together.

Ask them what they did at school on devices – Did they watch a video? Did they play a game? Did they do something they liked or disliked?

When it comes to their at-home device use, ask them about the videos they’ve watched or the games they played. Laugh along with them and start introducing ‘what-if’ scenarios like ‘if you saw a scary video, what could you do to get help?’

These chats can help make check-ins feel normal, which will help a great deal as your child explores more online spaces in the future!

Parental controls protect children during their screen time in the same way a helmet protects them on a bicycle – to prevent harm. They can’t replace regular conversations about safety, but they can give you peace of mind if you’re not able to sit with them.

• Start with broadband settings. Turn on safe content settings with your broadband provider to prevent your child from accidentally landing on a page with inappropriate content. Some providers might offer screen time controls and other settings.
• Next, add device-level parental controls. On any device your child uses – from a tablet to a smart TV to your smartphone – make sure you set controls. You can set screen time limits, restrict access to certain apps/channels and much more.
• Then, set up the apps they use. Popular platforms like Roblox and YouTube have safer options available for children along with parent accounts. Explore these to set up content restrictions, screen time limits, spending and more.

Follow the Layer up for online safety guide for more help.

If you’ve set parental controls in your child’s games, it’s a good time to review them. If you haven’t, it’s a good time to set them up now. In the past year, many platforms have introduced new online safety features, which you might be able to take advantage of.

Roblox, for example, has released Roblox Kids where all communication is restricted for children aged 8 and under (along with anyone who doesn’t verify age). Roblox Select is for ages 9-15 and has different communication settings, which you can control as a parent.

Also, if your child’s friendship group likes to play these games, consider learning about private servers. Setting those up can ensure only your child’s friendship group is able to play a game, meaning strangers can’t join.

Explore step-by-step online games and console parental controls.

Children exploring more of tech and the online space might go where their curiosity leads them. Unfortunately, this can sometimes mean clicking on suspicious links, seeking out pornography or talking to potentially harmful people.

What can help your child from coming to harm is making it clear that whatever they tell you, you won’t judge, blame or punish their honesty. Even if they’ve did something that goes against your family agreement or other rules you’ve set, you want them to tell you.

Explain this rule and repeat it often. For yourself, practise taking deep breaths before reacting or making decisions. Ask questions and stay calm. Make it clear that you only want to keep them safe and you’re happy they’ve told you.

This will reduce the likelihood of your child hiding things from you which could really harm them now or in the future.

While WhatsApp and other messaging apps have age minimums ranging from 13 to older, many children aged 9-12 are already using these apps. If your child is one of them, take this opportunity to review the group chats they’ve created, whether they’re a part of any communities and who they’re having one-on-one conversations with.

If your child isn’t there yet or is in the beginning stages, you can still talk messaging app boundaries – who they can talk to, which groups they can join, whether they can follow any communities.

Discuss what to do if someone starts to say things that are hurtful or worrying. Reinforce your ‘no judgement’ policy (or create one) and encourage them to always share messages that could hurt them or someone else.

At this age, your child might already have some sort of online presence – even if it’s through WhatsApp or a YouTube account on which they only watch or comment on videos. If you’ve shared family pictures featuring them growing up, this online presence might be even larger.

As they start wanting to explore other apps, make sure they understand that impact their online presence and digital footprint can have. Encourage them to think before sharing and avoid saying anything they wouldn’t be happy to wear on a t-shirt. Whatever they do or say online might stay there forever and could impact future education and work opportunities.

Read: What you need to know about your child’s digital footprint.