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From social media to gaming – what’s affecting your child online

29 July 2019

As a parent or carer, trying to understand your child’s online life can sometimes feel daunting. That is why our team of educational experts have created these hot topics with advice on how to handle some of the biggest issues young people face online.

The team have put together these useful bitesize guides based on what they hear from young people, parents, carers and teachers.

From how young people are livestreaming to managing screen time, there are a variety of issues covered by our hot topics, alongside tailored advice to help you no matter what age your child is.

We also have accompanying hot topics for young people to help them explore some of these topics themselves.

What is covered in the hot topics?

There are a number of subjects covered in the hot topics, these include:

  • Cyberbullying – tips on what to do when your child comes to you.
  • Screen Time Boundaries – advice for parents and carers with children aged 0 to 7.
  • Digital wellbeing – looking at what digital wellbeing is, and how parents and carers can help support their child.
  • Online Pornography – guidance to help you talk to your children about inappropriate content online.
  • Parental controls – looking at what controls are available, and how you can set these up.
  • Sexting – Looking at what this and answering some FAQs from parents.
  • Social networking – Looking at how young people can protect their online reputation, make a report and find out other key information about social networking sites.
  • Gaming – information on new features of games and things parents need to know.
  • Online grooming – top tips and guidance for parents and carers.
  • Livestreaming – looking at what livestreaming is and some of the potential risks.
  • Keeping under-fives safe online – containing 8 top tips that you can put in place at home, to help keep your youngest children safe online.
  • Premium Rate Content & in-app purchases – tips for avoiding in-app charges.
  • Downloading – information about how to enjoy entertainment online in a safe and legal way.
  • Video Chat and Webcams – tips for parents and carers whose child is using video chat or a webcam.
  • Critical Thinking – looking at what critical thinking is and why it is important.
  • Location Services – information on what these are and how they are used.

Where can I find more information?

You can see the full list of hot topics here: https://www.childnet.com/parents-and-carers/hot-topics

If you want further resources or tools that you can use with your children, visit the Childnet website’s Parents and Carers section. These include films to watch together, essential advice, and guidance on how to make agreements about your time online as a family.

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