WITH the summer holidays just around the corner, Wrexham Council has shared a number of ways you can guarentee your child's online safety on those not-so-sunny days.

Get Safe Online has issued some timely tips for parents and carers to help children enjoy a safe and confident experience online.

Children are more likely to be going online more than in term time - for entertainment, keeping in contact and chatting with their friends, gaming, and a multitude of other things.

With the additional time spent online, parents cannot always be sure that their children are keeping safe.

For more information about keeping children and yourself safe online check out their website.

  • Download apps only from recognised sources like App Store and Google Play and add your own email address when setting up accounts and apps for your child
  • Chat regularly with your child about what they do online and get them to show you.
  • Get to know about new technologies and trends. Talk about the potential negatives, like oversharing, seeing inappropriate content, cyberbullying and stranger danger.
  • Steer your child towards safe searching, websites and apps. Check what they’re watching and encourage them to use child-friendly platforms like YouTube Kids.
  • Consider setting up parental control software and apps on computers, mobile devices and games consoles.
  • Discuss and agree boundaries and rules from a young age, including appropriate online usage, always being respectful and how much time they spend online.
  • Without being controlling, keep an eye on your child’s online activities and know how to recognise the signs of something not being right. 
  • Warn your child about confidential information, personal details and images/video about themselves or
    others they share in posts, profiles, messages and chats.

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Get Safe online is the UK's leading source of information and advice on online safety and security for the public and small businesses.

It is a not for profit, public/private sector partnership backed by law enforcement agencies and leading organisations in internet security, banking and retail.

Come rain or shine, parents deserve to feel more confident about letting their child use electronic devices during their summer holidays.