Online Safety Advice

This page will give you useful information to allow you to ensure that your child is safe online.

The Digital Code:

Zip It: Do not share personal, intimate details with strangers you have met online while
Block It: Block contact from people you do not know or from anyone who is making you uncomfortable
Flag It: Highlight any suspicious people, activities or websites to a responsible adult, whether a parent, teacher or police or someone you trust

Click here to report Abuse

Some UK parents understand their children’s cyber culture, that is, the way in which their children use the Internet and mobile phone to work, play and socialise. The issues of safety, privacy, on-line predators and cyber bullying are sometimes complex, both technically and psychologically and parents can struggle to keep up. At Cockburn, we aim to empower parents to get involved with their children’s online activities, whatever their level of experience, in order to help their children reap the benefits of the Internet and avoid the dangers.

A useful site to go to is the UK Safer Internet Centre site (click here to open in a new tab) which gives parents/carers practical advice to support keeping students safe at home on the internet.

Many parents/carers are keen to understand the sites, apps and games that are most popular. The NSPCC NetAware site (click here to open in a new tab) gives reviews and advice specific to these areas.

What can you do to help?

You can help protect your children by following the simple steps below:

  • keep a watchful eye on Internet use including e-mail & chat
  • check the history folder of your Internet browser to check what sites have been accessed
  • use a child friendly search engine  e.g. ‘Ask Jeeves for Kids‘ etc
  • you could use IE Content Supervisor – only blocks participating sites
  • you could consider purchasing filter software – ‘netnanny’, ‘cyberbloc’ etc
  • you could consider using a different browser such as ‘Firefox’
  • protect your PC with a firewall / antivirus software – include spyware.

Here are some more websites with online safety advice:

Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP)

Kidsmart

Chat Danger

Click here for more information from the Think You Know website for parents

Click here for more information from the Think You Know website for students