Online safety

Teaching kids how to look after their phone

If a child or young person in your care wants a mobile phone, talk to your caseworker first to make sure there are no safety concerns around contact that may prevent them from having one.

If there aren’t any safety concerns, consider if you think they’re old enough and responsible enough to have a mobile phone. Many kids are given a phone when they start to practise responsibility and independence by getting themselves to and from school. This commonly happens towards the end of primary school or the beginning of high school.

Talk about looking after the phone (always keep the case on!) and what will happen if the phone is lost or the screen smashed. If you decide to give the child or young person a phone, the cost should be covered by the Care Allowance.

It’s important to have a conversation about the ongoing costs of phone calls, data use, online shopping, and in-app purchases. One way to limit the amount of money spent on calls and data is to get pre-paid phone cards for kids. Lawstuff, a website run by the National Children’s and Youth Law Centre, has some great information about phone plans and contracts presented in a way that kids and young people can understand.

Teaching kids how to stay safe online

The internet can be a great educational resource or just a good source of entertainment for kids. But it is also a place where they can get caught up in mistakes or misbehaviour. Talk to your child or young person about how to act safely and responsibly online:

• Help kids think ahead. It can be difficult for kids to understand that anything they post can be easily shared and could hang around the internet for decades to come. The general rule is that you should only post something if you are happy for anyone and everyone to see it.
• Teach kids to value privacy. Tell them never to share their full name, home address, school address, current location or phone number. Explain that reputable people and businesses won’t request that information, so if someone is asking for it, they should let you know. Let them know their safety is important to you and that’s why you want to check the privacy settings of anything they download or sign up for. Choose strict privacy settings and make sure location sharing is turned off.
• Consider parental control software. You can get software that limits what sort of content your child can see, or the times when they can use their device. If you decide to use parental control software, let your child know so that they don’t feel tricked or mistrusted.
• In the early years, be very actively involved when your child is online. Talk about how to use the internet safely, insist that devices are used in public areas of the house, and perhaps consider using settings or software that limit what your child can do online.
• As your child gets older, pull back a bit. Keep up the conversations about what they’re doing online, but don’t undermine your older teen’s privacy by demanding passwords, logging on to their devices or using software to track their activity unless you have real concerns for their safety. It’s better to make it clear what your values and expectations are, and ensure that your teen knows they.
• Don’t put up with cyber bullies. If your child is “cyber-bullied” by friends or anonymous users, encourage them to ignore the bullying and delete or block the bullies so they no longer see their messages.

Sharing images and information through websites, forums, online games and social networks such as Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr and Snapchat is a large part of what keeps young people connected to friends – but it can also jeopardise their privacy and safety.

Speak with your caseworker to see if it’s appropriate for the child or young person in your care to be contacting others through social networking - sometimes contact is restricted or requires supervision in the best interests of the child, so it’s important you know who they are talking to online.

The ground rules

Children are vulnerable to many of the more serious risks of using the internet. These include:

• meeting predatory adults online posing as potential friends
• giving out personal information, such as their phone number, address and photos
• visiting inappropriate sites that contain pornography, racism or depictions of violence
• staying up too late playing games and contacting friends
• spending too much time online, compromising friendships in the ‘real world’.

Make sure you talk to the child or young person in our care about the basic ground rules that will keep them safe online.

• Let your child know their safety is important to you and for that reason you want to check and set the privacy settings of every new app, online club or digital communication they download or sign up for. Choose strict privacy settings and make sure location sharing is turned off.
• Make the privacy rules clear. There are certain things kids should never share online including their full name, home address, school address, current location or phone number. Explain that reputable people and businesses won’t request this sort of information, so if someone is asking for it, your child or teen should let you know.
• Explain that people often say things online they would never say in person, and that they may be exposed to what’s called ‘cyber-bullying’ either from friends or strangers. Tell them the easiest way to discourage a cyber-bully is to ignore them. You can also delete or block bullies so you no longer see their messages. Lawstuff a website run by the National Children’s and Youth Law Centre, has some great information about cyber-bullying presented in a way that kids and young people can understand.
• Remind them that if something online seems wrong, inappropriate or dangerous, they’ll probably feel it: maybe their heart will pound or their stomach will churn. If they’re feeling that way during any sort of online conversation, they should exit it straight away and let you know.
• Make sure they realise that people can disguise their true identities when they’re communicating online and tell them to never meet up in the real world with someone you have met online – this can be risky.

‘Sexting’ is using the internet to send highly suggestive or sexually explicit images. It’s a growing trend with kids and a common way to flirt among some teenagers. However, it can cause public humiliation and in some cases is illegal.

Warn the young person about the potential risks of sexting and sexual predators. Give them clear rules about what they can and can’t do with their mobile phone and remind them to think before they act. Explain that they have no control over who sees their photos, where they appear or how they’re used after they have been sent.

When is sexting a crime?

Make sure kids understand that sexting involving anyone under the age of 18 is a crime. That means it’s not okay for anyone under 18 to send, receive or share a nude or sexual image, or to ask someone to take an image of that kind. If your child or young person receives an image, they should delete it and let the sender know they don’t want to receive any more.

Sexting is also a crime when it is used to harass someone. At any age, it is wrong to take a naked, revealing or sexual image of someone without their permission, for example, when they’re in the shower or getting changed. It is also wrong to use sexting to make someone feel humiliated or threatened.

Anyone found engaging in illegal sexting activity faces serious penalties, including being listed on the sex offender register.

Lawstuff, a website run by the National Children’s and Youth Law Centre, has some great information about sexting presented in a way that kids and young people can understand.