As Digital Parents, we all want to do something practical to guide our children safely through the digital world. Thankfully, there are useful tools like parental controls and privacy settings which can be used to help our children stay safe online.
Take time to sit with your child and find out what they are looking at and doing online; doing so while they are young will make it easier to keep up that engagement when they are older.
For parents and children, secure passwords are vital. Despite this, many people use the same password for all of their accounts – email, smartphone apps, social media and even online banking. The danger of this approach is that, if someone was able to discover just one of your passwords, they might be able to access all of these accounts.
While young children are likely to use their parents' phones or tablets, older children while almost certainly have their own internet-enabled devices at some point. This means that the whole Digital Family needs to understand how to create strong, unique passwords and security codes.
- Avoid using words that might be easy to guess. For example, some people actually use the word "password" as a security setting – not very difficult for a hacker to work out. In the same way, don't use the name of the service you are logging into; "Facebook" is not a sensible password for your Facebook account!
- Perhaps an obvious one, but don't tell anyone else your passwords!
- If you are writing them down, put the list somewhere safe at home. Never carry it with you or store it with your laptop, tablet or smartphone.
- Think about using a secure password management app or piece of software such as RoboForm, LastPass or Dashlane. Some are free, while others charge a subscription fee. If you want excellent security in your family's digital life, but don't want to try to remember lots of passwords, these may be a good option to consider.
Digital security is increasingly important, and the news has been full of stories about companies who have lost or had stolen the passwords or personal details of their customers. By following the simple rules above, you can help to keep your family safe and secure online.
Whether it's smartphones, social networks, video sharing or gaming, there are plenty of tools that children and Digital Parents can use to stay safe online.
For the rest of this page we will look very briefly at a few of the tools some popular devices, web browsers and social networking sites offer.
Young people use their smartphones and tablets on a daily basis to connect with each other on social networks, watch videos and share photos. The software on these devices includes settings which allow Digital Parents to restrict their children's access to certain apps, content and social networks.
It is important to remember that parental controls and privacy settings are not perfect; they need to be combined with supervision, sensible limits and working with children to guide them safely in the digital world.
As new devices and services become available, new parental controls and privacy settings are introduced. If your child gets a new internet-enabled device, then take the time to familiarise yourself with it.
Visit the manufacturers websites to find out about the settings you can use. The Vodafone Digital Parenting magazines and expert advice articles also provide plenty of information for Digital Parents.