Friends Of St Helen's School
Parent Teacher Association

Surfing

Safety and Surfing
Safety rules for kids
Places to surf for fun

Safety and Surfing

Having access to the internet can be exciting to children and a testing time for parents. There are many filters and safety software out there. None of these can replace the knowledge of how to be safe and keep safe on the internet, but do use them.

Start by using the internet together and encourage them to talk about the experience. Have the computer in a room where you can see what they are doing, if its always in view when they are ready to surf alone you can still keep an eye on them. (Suddenly moving the computer to the lounge from upstairs will cause friction.)

Before you allow your child to go online without your supervision, make sure you have a set of rules that you can all agree on. The rules should include when they can go on line, for how long and what are the consequences for breaking the rules.

Explain to children people on the internet are not always the person they say they are.

Teach them how to treat people on the internet, just because its words does not mean it's less hurtful to others.

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Here are few safety rules for kids

Do not give out personal information such as address, telephone number, parent's work address/telephone number, or the name and location of my school without my parents' permission.

If you do need to register on a site, ask for permission first and never use your name or personal details as a 'username' or 'password'.

Never send a person your picture or anything else without first checking with your parents

Trust your instincts/feelings and tell your parents right away if you come across any information that makes you feel uncomfortable. Do not answer any messages that are mean or in any way makes me feel uncomfortable.

Never agree to get together with someone you "meet" online.

Do talk with your parents about your experiences.

Don't believe everything you read or see on the internet, people make mistakes others make mistakes on purpose. If you are not sure ask your parents.

Do not download anything without your parents permission.

Do have a set of rules you and your parents can agree on.

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Some places to surf for fun

Please check links for suitability based on your child's age and maturity. The Friends of St Helen’s have no control over external sites and can not be held responsible for the content of external websites.

For the sites' below we have tried to give an idea of the sites content, age suitability and some possible drawbacks.

If you would like your kids to safe surf have a look at The Yahooligans! website it is aimed for kids and has hundreds of child friendly links. Juniors will have hours of fun in safety, parents can brush up your kids jokes repertoire and younger children can click and enjoy the different sounds the clicks make with little chance of exiting the site, they might hit an advertisement or two which open in an new page but we have not found an exit to the internet in any yet!

The BBC have a Cbeebies site which is for younger children with pictures, activities, stories and many from there favourite characters. For the under 7 Cbeebies is a very easy site to exit or end up on a wrong page (a big home button at the top takes the to the main BBC site) so parent and child surfing is recommended. cbeebies

For Juniors and above there is CITV this is a 'Horrid Henry' & Saturday morning kind of humour site. If that's their kind of thing they will have fun there. The downside is it over uses popups click home and it 'pops up' in a new page. CITV

If you have a favourite site please let us know we will check it out and add it with a summery.