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Tell TalkTalk how you deal with internet safety in your home - £150 voucher up for grabs! NOW CLOSED

62 replies

MichelleMumsnet · 10/02/2014 09:33

TalkTalk has asked us to find out what Mumsnetters do in the way of internet safety at home.

Here's what TalkTalk say, "The internet is at the heart of our homes and at TalkTalk we believe everyone should be able to have fun online without worrying about the safety of their family. As its Safer Internet Day on 11 February we are encouraging families to be safer online by activating our whole home online security system, HomeSafe. Exclusively available for TalkTalk customers free of charge, HomeSafe protects your whole home online through every device connected to your TalkTalk broadband.

Keeping you and your family safer online is our top priority which is why we have worked with The Parent Zone, to support Safer Internet Day, to share our tops tips for keeping children safe online. With this in mind why not test how internet savvy you are with our Internet Age Calculator. You can see how your internet know-how stacks up against a ten-year old."

So, what are your top tips for keeping your family safe online are? What are you and aren't you comfortable with your children doing online? What role does the internet play in your family life? Have you had any experiences where your child has done something they shouldn't have online? Whatever it is we’d love to hear your thoughts.

Everyone who shares their opinions on this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a £150 Love2Shop voucher.

Thanks and good luck

MNHQ

OP posts:
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serendipity1980 · 10/02/2014 10:45

We have 4yr old and 5yr old which sounds young but they both use the iPad, DS has access to school virtual learning environment and uses laptop for that. So, we do think a bit about internet safety but they don't explore on their own yet. We do have restrictions on in app purchases etc. I think we content restrictions but I'm not 100% sure. They don't do any internet searches on their own, but we do need to think how we protect them in the future.

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manfalou · 10/02/2014 11:04

Our 3 year old uses the iPad but never goes on the internet and he can't buy in app purchases due to passwords etc already in place. My partner's job is all about IT and he loves everything about computers so he already has ideas in place about the security side of things once the kids start exploring the web (which won't be anytime soon!) If he chooses the Safari icon by mistake he isn't even interested in what it could lead to and turns it off straight away.

Myself and my partner use the internet daily for various activities but neither of us feel that the kids need to use it until they're well into their school years. Theres plenty to do without using the net.

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changedirection · 10/02/2014 17:34

Dd is only 3 so internet is closely supervised for now. Mostly just us finding things foe her to watch on YouTube. As she starts learning to use it and search for things, we will want to set some controls up but haven't yet looked into this in any detail as hope to have a couple of years yet

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PandaFeet · 10/02/2014 18:06

When I was a teen mobile phones were relatively new and my parents were certainly quite ignorant to the content that I could access easily.

I hope to not make the same mistakes with my DCs. They are only 5 and 1 now, so have minimal exposure to the web anyway, but I will be supervising their use and once that becomes more difficult I will be ensuring we have tight parental controls on all devices that have web access.

I do really worry about social networks and I dread to think what will be out there in 5-10 years time.

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Fifyfomum · 10/02/2014 18:17

we use homesafe

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mrscumberbatch · 10/02/2014 18:24

Dp and I are quite tech literate.
We are hoping to go down the route of extreme awareness of the horrors of the Internet when Dd is older.
She is 4 at the moment, I doubt she'll have unsupervised Internet access until she's 20 Wink

I wish that the boffins at google would come up with a google 'lite' version that streams out the majority of the nasties.

I think that in an ideal world there wouldn't be so much porn online, but the reality is that there is.

Hopefully by the time Dd is old enough to be fully computer literate, technology will have moved on and Internet porn will be passé.

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DoctorGilbertson · 10/02/2014 18:41

Yeah - our approach with the children (5&4) is that internet access is when we are around (in the kitchen etc.) and able to supervise. Mostly Youtube at the moment.

Turning the volume up is one hint when leaving small children entertained by an internet device as you will be able to hear any changes to the intended activity

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Ellisisland · 10/02/2014 18:43

Blocks on the internet so certain sites cannot be accessed. All internet use is in public areas such as living room etc

I imagine controlling internet use of teenagers a lot harder though

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maxpower · 10/02/2014 20:22

We protect our tablets and laptops with passwords and Dd (7) knows which sites she can visit. Ds (3) can use apps but obviously can't use search engines yet. I don't let them use the computer alone - they have to be in a communal area. I find some internet security systems a bit frustrating eg one where dh tried to limit dds time on gaming sites also prevented me accessing them.

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sharond101 · 10/02/2014 21:24

DS is only 20 months od just now but knows his way around DH's iphone better than me. We should really get some security measures in place but it has always seemed so soon. Will be on this weekends to do list.

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CrewElla · 10/02/2014 22:02

My eldest is pretty handy with our smartphones and tablet but he hasn't figured out our security patterns or codes yet! We're not at the stage where we need to monitor internet usage as he's only 2 & a half but we will when he starts using our devices for more than the cbeebies app or waybuloo app.

We have all the usual protections, e.g. anti-virus, ad & pop-up blockers, passwords enabled, etc.

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Twooter · 11/02/2014 08:50

One of my concerns is the pop-up ads that come up during some iPod games. I know of one 10 year old who completed a match.com profile and started getting replies. Fortunately the mother received the dds emails on her phone and was able to put a stop to it.

I have all my dc emails linked to my iPad due to their age. No you tube since the new update as I can no longer check their history. Highest strict settings on browsers on the dc gadgets.

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PlentyOfPubeGardens · 11/02/2014 09:27

I avoid ISP level filters such as homesafe because they are too crude a tool to be of any use at all. It's ridiculous to think that one level of filtering is suitable for an entire family.

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PlentyOfPubeGardens · 11/02/2014 09:39

Just done the internet age calculator. Did you really have to include the 'Frape' question? Hmm

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Tortoise · 11/02/2014 09:43

I'm with talktalk for broadband and have homesafe set up. Younger dc only access the internet in the same room as me.
DS1 has his pc in the kitchen but does use his laptop upstairs as does ds2.

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Maiyakat · 11/02/2014 13:41

DD still too little, but plan to have a separate 'account' for her with child settings on it and only supervised access. By the time she's old enough for her own phone/tablet I'm sure it will all have changed again....

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Paleodad · 11/02/2014 14:56

DD7 and DS4 here, so the internet dangers i perceive they may be at risk from mostly relate to youtube, and possibly when browsing for online games etc. The latter is done under supervision, but the former tends to have less oversight (we are 'around' but perhaps not checking every video)
DD has a cheap tablet, which i have restricted with an app form google play to restrict the apps etc. she has access to. Youtube is accessible, but with the security parameters et as high as possible. In order for the tablet to access google play (and youtube for that matter) I have setup a google account, linked to my own account and for which DD/DS do not have the password, again with strict security parameters.
We have talktalk internet, but have not setup homesafe.

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mercibucket · 11/02/2014 20:28

we use bt internet settings to control general internet settings but mostly we just keep a bit of an eye on what the kids are up to

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Theimpossiblegirl · 11/02/2014 20:29

I keep a watchful eye. My children only access the internet in the living areas of the house so I can see what's going on.

My top tip is to have an open dialogue with your children from a young age. That way (hopefully) they will come to you if there is anything they are unsure about. Now they are getting older it is really important to discuss things like Cyberbullying. Their school has a good E safety section on the website and I know they are getting good advice there too.

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CheeseTMouse · 11/02/2014 21:06

This scares me about my daughter growing up and it's something I know so little about that it is something I will have to educate myself on. I think some how to guides for parents would be super helpful.

She is already showing a keen interest in my touch screen phone, and she's only tiny...

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KateOxford · 12/02/2014 06:47

When my son aged 3.5 uses the iPad it's always under supervision- mainly because it's new! I'm always in the room with him, if not next to him. We have a password set up on iPad and laptop and as he's too young to search for things he asks me to find what he's looking for. The pop ups during games are frustrating and it is a worry he will click through to things he shouldn't. I will look into home safe - thank you. Although you have to enter a password to purchase on I tunes this remains in place for several minutes after and it would be good if this could be stopped so that a child doesn't inadvertently purchase something too. If he wants to watch something on the web through you tube like dancing robots I normally have to watch it first - just because he gets scared of certain clips. But this way I know exactly what he's watching. This will change as he gets older so of course safety measures have to be put in place. We do have a separate folder on the iPad for my sons games so that he doesn't need to scroll through everything, thus reducing the risk of him clicking on or deleting our apps or programs.

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ladygoingGaga · 12/02/2014 07:12

I have a 8 year old DS, and an Ipad, like others I have passwords for ITunes and the ipad itself.
He is only allowed on apps I purchase, so I get to screen them to make sure they are suitable, I group them together in a folder so he can go straight there and no click on anything else by mistake.

My fear is that he will want to start using search engines, which scare me, as an innocent phrase googled by a child can bring back some very dodgy sites!

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beeelaine · 12/02/2014 13:06

our rule is that when on the computer or ipad it is not in a place hidden away and we walk past and just have a peep to see what our son is doing he is used to it now and we dont interfere with him playing games etc we just want to make sure he is not conversing with some one we dont know. He still messages his friends but we know who they all are, and as long as no one we dont know talks to him we let him play games. But the most important way of protecting your children is helping them to learn to look after themselves by telling them that people may not be who they seem, we also have shown our son news articles, he is 12 years old now and I did have a chat with him about that poor boy who committed suicide after he was blackmailed for photos he sent of himself to a girl. It was awfully sad and I think we should talk with our children about these things so they are fully aware of them and that no matter how real someone can seem online that they might not be who they say they are. Our family use the internet on a daily basis and security is always a worry. I wont bank online as I am so worried about hackers, so now we have one little bank account with a debit card and the balance is only usually 10.00 and we put in money when we want to use it for purchases etc, that way if anyone gets the details they wont mess up our direct debits and leave us with no bank account!

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WowOoo · 12/02/2014 13:19

My eldest son has just discovered the joys of YouTube.
I'm very happy that the computer is in the main room as I've been able to check what he's doing. He's been close to clicking on some dodgy clips.
I'm happy with him playing games, but not so much searching.
We do need to do some of the things on that Top Ten list. but I'm happy to say that the quiz thinks I'm more computer savvy than a 10 year old. I beg to differ!

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flamingtoaster · 12/02/2014 18:55

When DS and DD started using the internet it was under supervision, restricted and later always on a downstairs computer that we could walk past regularly and check what was being done. I am fairly tech savvy so they knew they wouldn't get away with anything - though I don't think they wanted to in any case. If several tabs/windows were open I would ask to see any I didn't recognize the name of. We talked to them regularly about the dangers of the internet and things/people not being what they seemed to be.

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