It is important to talk to your children about online safety to encourage responsible behaviours and to help them develop digital resilience. Research shows that regular conversations at home help minimise the harm if things do go wrong online.
Internet Service Providers
When it comes to picking the right Internet Service Provider (ISP) it can be hard to know where to start. The below video provides information for parents and caregivers to consider:
We all want to keep our tamariki safe during screen time. The below video from Te Mana Whakaatu Classification Office(external link) explains why parental controls are so important.
Parental controls
Although no solution is 100% effective, technological options like parental controls will help keep your child stay safe online.
Te Mana Whakaatu Classification Office(external link) have more information on their website about how to effectively use parental controls to protect your whānau.
Types of parental controls
There are three main types of controls to help you to filter, restrict and control the content your child can access:
- Network controls, set on the hub or modem from your ISP, which apply to all devices connected in the household.
- Device controls, which can be set in the device, such as laptop, iPad or smartphones.
- Platform or application controls, which can be set directly on the application settings, such as YouTube or Google.
Setting up parental controls
Guidance on what controls and safety features are available and how to set them up are available at these links:
Google Products:
- Google Online Safety Centre(external link)
- Google Safe Search(external link)
- Android Family Link(external link)
- Google Internet Safety(external link) (YouTube video)
- Chromebook Parental Controls(external link) (YouTube video)
- Restricted Mode on YouTube(external link) (YouTube video)
Windows products:
- Windows Family Safety Centre(external link)
- Family Features and Settings for Windows Environment(external link) (YouTube video)
Apple products:
- Apple Family Safety Centre(external link)
- Parental Controls on iOS(external link) (YouTube video)
- Mac Parental Controls(external link) (YouTube video)
Social media platforms:
- Discord(external link)
- Facebook(external link)
- Instagram(external link)
- Snapchat(external link)
- Snapchat Family Toolkit(external link)
- Telegram(external link)
- TikTok(external link)
- Twitch(external link)
More information about parental control software is available from Netsafe:
Parental controls on devices(external link).
Switch on Safety
Switch on Safety is a free filter parents can apply to their child’s devices which blocks unsafe websites such as scams, bad software and content unsuitable for young eyes.
The filter was created by The Network for Learning(external link)(external link) (N4L), the Crown company which filters what students can access on the internet at school.
You can also use the ‘Switch on Safety’ setting on your own devices. The setting automatically includes activating Google Safe Search and more.
More information and instructions for specific devices is available on the Switch on Safety website(external link).