In this article I would like to introduce Netsafe, and discuss what this organisation can offer, to help us keep our tamariki safe online.

Netsafe is an independent, non-profit organisation that has been operating for over 20 years. Netsafe provides online safety support, expertise and education to people in New Zealand. Their purpose is to “to enable people in New Zealand to confidently access digital opportunities and prevent online harm.”

Netsafe provides free and confidential advice and support to people in New Zealand seven days a week. Advice can be for something that may be worrying you, such as bullying, scams or how to talk to your child about online safety, as well as helping you report an incident that may relate to the Harmful Digital Communications Act (HDCA). If your child has made an error of judgement and uploaded something inappropriate to the internet, Netsafe can also aid you to remove this if possible.

There are also many great articles on their website (https://www.netsafe.org.nz/) related to keeping our children safe online. They also offer advice to parents through many different toolkits which are available under the parent section of their website. https://www.netsafe.org.nz/advice/parenting/

Toolkits available include an online gaming toolkit (https://www.netsafe.org.nz/online-gaming-whanau-toolkit-accessible/) and a more general online safety parent toolkit (https://www.netsafe.org.nz/online-safety-parent-toolkit/)