Getting involved in Safer Internet Day – resources for parents and carers

01 Feb 2018 Becca Cawthorne

For Safer Internet Day 2018, the UK Safer Internet Centre has created a pack of activities and ideas for parents and carers to use with children from the age of 3 to 18.

Safer Internet Day 2018 will be celebrated globally on Tuesday 6th February 2018 with the slogan “Create, Connect and Share Respect: A better internet starts with you”.

The resources have been designed for you to use with your children and spark discussions around using the internet safely and responsibly. The focus this year is on digital wellbeing and healthy relationships online. Safer Internet Day is a great opportunity to celebrate the way that technology allows us to connect with our friends and family whilst also providing a chance to reflect on our relationships and even our relationship with technology.

Free resources to use at home

The Education Pack and complementary SID TV film for parents and carers provide a range of discussion points and things to do at home with children of all ages. In the pack you will find conversation starters, a fact sheet, pledge cards and lots of fun activities. 

Here are some of the many things you will find in the Safer Internet Day parents and carers pack:

Conversation starters – to use with children of all ages

We know that parents and carers want to talk to their children about their lives online but it can be difficult to know how to start those conversations. Here are some questions to help you, including having a discussion about what you as a family like to do online!

Fun things to do online – Activities to use with children aged 3 to 11.

It is never too early to learn about being safe online and here are lots of ways to do this with your children. In this part of the parents and carers pack you will find stories, videos and an online quiz too.

Digital myth or digital truth? – Activity to use with young people aged 11 to 18.

Discuss the myths or have a debate at home to see what your children think. The myths look at some of the feelings, benefits and pressures that come with going online. You will find this amongst the Quick Activities.

Factsheet – for any questions you might have or if you want more information

There is a lot of great information out there for parents. Here you will find lots of useful links and advice on topics on topics like online gaming, safety tools, reporting, parental controls and social media.

Top Tips for Parents and Carers

For Safer Internet Day we have created top tips and links with some suggestions on how to get started with supporting your child to stay safe and positive online. The tops tips cover a range of topics such as having an an open and honest dialogue and also looks at the tools that are available to help you as a parent. 

Join hundreds of supporters across the UK

You can link up with the wider campaign taking place across the UK – and globally in over 130 countries – by joining the social media campaign. This year we are using the idea of a jigsaw to show how we can all connect for a better internet. It would be great if families could sit down together and fill in their own jigsaw piece with a pledge or drawing of their favourite thing to do online. Download our templates to support the Safer Internet Day social media campaign #ItStartsWithUs.

Key links