Being a parent or caregiver in the digital age can be challenging. Here you will find tools and advice to help you 'keep it real online' with your children and young people.

The government has launched a new website with advice, information and toolkits to help parents support their kids online. It has some great advice with gaming, apps, screen time and streaming content including parental controls. Click here to check it out.

Here is a snippet from their website:

Talk to your children

The internet is a great place to connect with family and friends, learn, play games and watch videos and TV programmes. But it can also have downsides for our tamariki. They may be exposed to pornography and other inappropriate content, bullied and ‘groomed’ by sexual predators without even realising it.

• Figure out what they already know
• Let them know you will support them no matter what
• Talk about who they can reach out to if they need help
• Talk about ways to report or remove harmful content.

Netsafe has more information about how to talk to your children:
Netsafe's parent toolkit resource(external link)
How to create an online safety plan(external link)

The Classification Office has resources to help start the conversation:
Information for parents and whānau(external link)

Understand online challenges

Children and tamariki find the internet an easy place to:

• Explore their identity
• Challenge adult norms and boundaries
• Experiment with relationships
• Practice a range of behaviours.

But there is a risk of:

• Online bullying
• Unwanted contact
• Sending and receiving nude content
• Seeing inappropriate content (such as pornography).

You can better support children and tamariki when you understand the challenges they face online.

Netsafe has more information:
Understanding young people's online challenges(external link)