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Internet Safety

  1. How to set up the parental controls offered by your Internet Service Provider

    At Family Lives, we often hear from families who are struggling to set up parental controls effectively.  This could be because of IT skills or the way the controls have been set up.  Some of the main Internet Service Providers have produced a video guide that shows you how to set up the much needed parental controls.  

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  2. FAMILY LIVES TOP TIPS FOR GIVING YOUR CHILD A MOBILE PHONE

    Family Lives recognises that giving your child a mobile phone can be a difficult decision.  On the one hand you want to be able to keep in touch with them and know they are safe, whilst on the other you might have concerns about what type of content they could be trying to access, or inadvertently accessing.  It can be a fraught time, but with the correct up to date information we hope that it will make it easier for you to make an informed decision.  We have put together some top tips for parents of children, pre-teens and teenagers to make things a little easier.  

    Parent Tips for Children

    • As a parent ask yourself whether your child really needs a mobile phone, and whether you feel they would be capable of using one in...
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  3. Internet Safety

    The introduction of the internet and the world wide web has been revolutionary and has made life easier for most with information and knowledge at your fingertips.  The internet is a great resource for families helping with homework, shopping and staying in touch with friends.  More recently, social networking has become a necessity for many people and in most cases it is used responsibly.  Online gaming has become the new going out for many children and young people as they meet their friends online to play games alongside and against each other.  All these wonderful and innovative things you can do on the internet is often overshadowed by the dangers and safety issues of being online.  With children being encouraged to use the internet more and more in their...

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  4. Online gaming: is your child addicted?

    Does this sound like your child? Hunched over computer game controls, eyes fixed in concentration on the screen, oblivious to what’s going on around them for hours on end?

    A survey of school children by ChildWise last year revealed that they spend an average of six hours a day in front of screens (TV, games consoles and online) and 43% have internet access in their bedrooms while a separate study suggested the figure for ‘screenagers’ is closer to 10 hours. And it’s not just children who become obsessed with online gaming… 

    It’s been suggested that between 5 and 10 per cent of the 46.6 million web users in Britain may be addicts.

    Online gaming is particularly compulsive. A recent report by Sweden’s Youth Care Foundation described the extremely popular multi-...

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  5. Tips on Internet safety

    If possible make sure the computer is in a family room.

    • Show an interest in what your child is doing on the net but try for a balance between respecting their privacy and making sure they don't feel the need to be secretive.
    • Agree rules such as never giving out contact details and make sure that your child knows why they should never give out their full name, home address, telephone number or email address.
    • Agree with your child what they can and can't have access to on the net. Insist they don't download anything from 'pop-ups' that can appear on the screen. These are often pornographic. Ask them to fetch you if the 'pop-ups' keep reappearing as they can be very persistent. Software like 'Net Nanny' or 'Adware' can be installed to block undesirable sites...
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