Online Safety: A guide for Hook Junior School Parent and Carers

Helping children stay safe online is a shared responsibility between home and school. This page provides simple guidance, practical tips and trusted resources to help you support your child to become a confident and responsible digital citizen.

Starting the Conversation

E‑safety begins with regular, open conversations at home. You don’t need to be a technical expert—just talking with your child about what they do online, how it makes them feel, and what to do if something goes wrong is the most important step.

In school, e‑safety is taught through our PSHE curriculum and reinforced whenever children use technology in lessons.

What Is a Digital Citizen?

A digital citizen is anyone who uses the internet. Children learn that being a good digital citizen means:

Being honest and responsible online
Thinking about how actions affect others
Using devices and apps only with adult approval
Telling a trusted adult if something feels wrong
Never sharing personal information with strangers

The SMART Rules

Understanding how to stay safe online can feel overwhelming for children, so simple, memorable guidance is essential. The SMART Rules provide an easy way for children to remember the most important behaviours that help keep them safe when using the internet, apps or games. These rules encourage children to think before they share, stay cautious around strangers online and always seek support from a trusted adult when something doesn’t feel right.

S – Safe: Keep personal information private.
M – Meeting: Never meet someone you first met online.
A – Accepting: Only open messages/images from people you know.
R – Reliable: Check information with an adult.
T – Tell: Speak to a trusted adult if something worries you.

Talking About Privacy: NSPCC PANTS

Helping children understand what parts of their body are private is an important foundation for staying safe, both online and offline. The NSPCC’s PANTS rule introduces this idea in a simple, reassuring way that young children can easily understand, without using any frightening or adult language. It gives families a straightforward way to talk about personal boundaries, helping children recognise when something doesn’t feel right and encouraging them to speak to a trusted adult.

The NSPCC’s PANTS rule helps children understand what is private, without using scary or adult language.

Learn more at: NSPCC – The Underwear Rule.

Understanding Age Restrictions

Most social media and messaging platforms set a minimum age of 13 for users, primarily because of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which prevents companies from collecting personal data from younger children. Following these age limits helps protect children from inappropriate content, contact from strangers and features designed for older users. Popular platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok all require users to be 13+, while WhatsApp has a minimum age of 13 in the UK (and 16 in some countries). Discord, which includes open chat servers and voice channels, also sets its minimum age at 13 due to the nature of user‑generated content. Respecting these age restrictions helps children build healthy digital habits and ensures they only access platforms designed with appropriate safeguards for their age group.

Trusted Adults and Reporting Concerns

Children should feel confident that they have several trusted adults they can turn to if something online worries or confuses them. These might include parents, carers, grandparents, teachers or another responsible adult they know well. It’s important to reassure children that they can talk about any online experience—big or small—even if they think they might get into trouble or have made a mistake. Let them know that adults are there to help, not to blame. Encourage regular check‑ins about what they’re doing online, who they’re talking to and how it makes them feel. If something upsetting happens, children should know how to ask for help straight away and understand that trusted adults can support them in reporting, blocking or dealing with situations safely.

Managing Online Profiles

When children begin using social media or online platforms, it’s important that they understand how to manage their online presence safely. A short conversation with your child can help them build good habits early and understand the importance of controlling what they share and who can see it. You can support them by talking about:

How privacy settings work
Who can see their information
Blocking or reporting users
What personal information is unsafe to share (full name, school, address, phone number, routines, photos showing uniform, etc.)
Why they should only connect with people they know in real life
How to choose appropriate usernames and profile pictures
How to recognise when someone isn’t who they say they are online
How long posts, photos or comments stay online (even if deleted or shared privately)
Why being kind and respectful online is just as important as in person
What to do if they feel pressured to share something or keep a secret

Useful E‑Safety Resources

With so much information available online, it can be hard to know which advice to trust. The organisations below provide clear, reliable and up‑to‑date guidance to help families stay safe online. Whether you want to understand risks, learn how to support your child, or explore activities you can do together, these national experts—CEOP, Safer Internet, the NSPCC and Childnet—offer practical tools and age‑appropriate resources designed specifically for children, young people and their parents.

Safer Internet

National Crime Agency CEOP

NSPCC: keeping children safe online

Childnet

Guides for Popular Social Networks

As children grow older, they may become curious about the social networks that adults and older siblings use. Even if your child is not yet old enough for their own account, it’s helpful for parents to understand how major platforms work and what safety features they provide. The links below offer up‑to‑date guidance on privacy settings, reporting tools and ways to make each platform safer should your child encounter them in the future.

Setting Controls on Devices

Modern devices offer a wide range of built‑in tools that help parents manage what children can see and do online. Whether your family uses Apple, Android or Amazon Fire tablets, each platform includes settings that allow you to limit access to apps, filter content, manage screen time and create safer digital spaces for children. The links below explain how to use these controls so you can set up your child’s device with confidence.

Home Internet and Mobile Safety

All major UK internet providers offer parental controls to help families manage online content at home. These controls can filter adult material, restrict specific categories of websites, and help keep children safer while browsing. Below is a broader list covering the most common UK broadband providers:

Home broadband controls:

Mobile network safety controls:

Safe Search Tools

Reporting Online Abuse

If a child has experienced inappropriate, abusive or sexualised content online, support is available: