Dubai: Worried about what your child is watching online? Your concerns are not misplaced. According to the UAE’s Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), most children don’t meet age guidelines while watching TV and online content.
In its recently concluded campaign on children’s online safety, the authority urged parents to take the necessary steps to protect children from online harassment and harmful content.
But as the school year begins, your child’s use of their tablet is bound to increase. In this guide, we look at simple ways in which you can monitor their online content consumption and educate them on online safety.
1. Keep your own digital profiles a safe space for them
While it is important to monitor your child’s online consumption, how safe is your profile when it comes to protecting your child’s online presence?
“Your personal profile is your window to the digital world. It's crucial to establish boundaries to safeguard your privacy and digital safety,” the TDRA said.
2. Filter content on children’s devices to protect them
TDRA also urged parents to pay attention to their child’s use of technology, including social media use, the games they play and their internet use.
“Most children don’t meet age guidelines while watching TV and online content. Failure to adhere to age restrictions and practise basic participation in their consumption of online content exposes them to risks,” TDRA said.
But how exactly do you do that? Do you know how many hours your child spends playing online games every day? Or which websites they may be accessing? Setting up parental controls can go a long way in minimising the harmful content your child may get exposed to, and below you can find more detailed steps on how you can enable them on your child’s device.
3. Report harmful content
No matter how many parental controls you put in place, children will inevitably come across videos, websites or online messages that can be inappropriate and damaging. This is why it is important to speak to your child about what the ground rules are around online use.
In its guide on online safety for children, the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) encourages parents to have honest conversations with their children about who they communicate with and how, and who can see what they post online.
The guide post goes on to state: “If your child experiences something online that makes them feel upset, uncomfortable or scared, encourage them to tell you or a trusted adult immediately. Children often ‘know’ the perpetrators of online harassment or abuse, so it is important to help them to be alert and know how to respond to any problematic behaviours they encounter online. Work with your child to establish rules on how, when and where to use devices.”
TDRA also encouraged parents to report and block such content and users, to enable the authority to enhance digital security for children.
1. Set clear ground rules:
• Have honest conversations about online safety and potential risks.
• Encourage children to report any concerning experiences.
• Set clear ground rules for online behaviour.
2. Use technology to protect them:
• Keep devices updated with the latest software.
• Use parental controls and privacy settings.
• Be cautious of free online resources.
3. Spend time with them online:
• Create opportunities to spend time with online
• Help your child recognise and avoid harmful content.
• Be alert for apps that may have harmful content or pose privacy risks.
4. Promote critical thinking:
• Teach children to evaluate online information critically.
• Encourage them to be mindful of what they share.
• Help them recognise and avoid harmful content.
5. Balance online and offline activities:
• Encourage offline activities and interests.
• Support creativity and self-expression online.
• Ensure a healthy balance between online and offline life.
4. Take a free online course as a family
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which TDRA is a council member of, offers free courses in its Child Online Protection programme.
Through games as well as an app, children can learn more about online safety. The courses are available for the age groups of 9-12, 13-15 and 16-18, and can be accessed through the website - https://www.itu-cop-guidelines.com/children
5. Set up parental controls
Each device that your child uses will have its own settings that you need to work with, and you may need to set the parental controls on the app store of the device as well as the browser.
These parental controls allow you to set specific time limits on your children’s use, control or block games your child can access, prevent children from using specific programmes and manage content children can search for online.
Here are two ways in which you can set parental controls on your child’s tablet:
On an iPad
Turn on content and privacy restrictions – In the settings app, go to screen time and under ‘family’, choose your child’s name. Tap on ‘Content & Privacy Restrictions’ and if asked, enter your screen time passcode, then turn on ‘Content & Privacy Restrictions’.
Now you can set age-related restrictions for content, purchases and downloads, and privacy settings.
For example, from the same place, you can choose to deactivate in-store purchases on the App Store, restrict the use of built-in apps or features, prevent explicit content and restrict and select the websites that your child can access.
On an Android device
Go to Google Play Settings > Family > Parental Controls > On, then set the desired restrictions. Google also offers ‘Family link’, an app that allows parents to restrict content, approve or disapprove apps, set screen times, and more. You can download the app and add your child’s account to manage the type of content they can access.
