With children spending increasingly more time online and using social media, the NSPCC are urging parents to understand the risks of cyberbullying and seeing content that’s inappropriate by opening up the conversation and teaching them how to protect their children from the range of online abuse.
In a concerning report recently released, the NSPCC revealed the internet was used as a gateway by offenders to commit more than 3,000 sex crimes against children last year.
Working alongside O2, the NSPCC have created a range of resources parents can access in order to help them understand and learn the following:
- The risks of social media and what your children can be exposed to
- How to set up parental controls and filters to monitor activity
- How to use social media
- The advantage of using tools like NetAware, a guide to find how age appropriate website content is.
Charlotte* (16) and her mum Janet* received help from the NSPCC’s Protect and Respect service in Nottingham after Charlotte became a victim of online grooming.
"The NSPCC came and talked to me about social media and helped me to learn more about online safety. I feel a lot more confident talking to her about it now and helping her to stay safe. You don’t have to be a technical expert to help protect children online, but having some knowledge does help.” Said Janet*.
Find more information on all the services available here or to talk directly to an expert from O2 & NSPCC please call 0808 8005002.
*Names have been changed to protect identity.*
