Nowhere On The Internet Is Safe For Our Kids
This afternoon I was approached by Seven Sharp and asked to be interviewed about a news piece to do with YouTube and kids.
You can watch the piece here:
They also followed it up with this video from me with some tips for parents about helping your kids when it comes to devices and what they’re watching:
I really want to let you know that nothing is safe on the internet. Not even YouTube Kids.
If you truly want to make sure your children aren’t exposed to any nasties on the internet, don’t let them have access; it’s that simple.
Although as a heavy internet user myself (and my husband is too), we made a decision early on to let our kids use it from time to time.
If you’re happy with your kids being on devices but are worried about what they’re watching, you can set up the settings on your device to lock out certain apps, or connect to the internet (depending on what you’re wanting them to do).
Stuff Fibre has a special program called “SafeZone” which works in behind your internet connection. You can set specific websites, apps and programs not to be allowed access when connected to the internet.
Every parent is different, but I like to make sure I am within earshot of my children when they’re on devices too. I can usually always hear what they’re watching and if they ever stumbled across something that didn’t sound right, I’d be right there to move them onto something else; or remove the device from them altogether.
Ultimately it’s up to you, the parent, to police this. It’s important you are aware that nowhere is safe on the internet, and you need to be the gatekeeper if you can.
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