Charity NSPCC with advice on online safety for children and also, if they are spending too much time online

A recent survey by Ofcom found that children are spending hours online each day, something high could be detrimental to their health.

Transcript

00:00We know that the online world is a really important part of many children's lives.

00:05They enjoy exploring new communities on there, connecting with their friends and learning

00:09about the world. So we want to make sure they can access the benefits of it. But it is important

00:14to think as well about what some of the risks or challenges might be with spending too long

00:19online. Now, we don't say that there's a particular right or wrong amount of time to spend online.

00:25This really will depend on the child, on their needs and their support systems. But what

00:29is important is that parents are working with children to think about what a healthy

00:33balance might look like for them and then setting some sensible boundaries in place.

00:38The anonymity of the online world can expose children to a range of risks from cyberbullying

00:43and online grooming to exposure to age inappropriate content and also the spread of misinformation.

00:50There are a number of things at the NSPTC that we're worried about when we think about

00:54children's safety online. We hear from Calls to Childline that children are being groomed

00:59at scale online with perpetrators often creating fake profiles to build relationships and contacts

01:05with children online and then using this to groom and exploit children. We also know that

01:10children are exposed to a really wide range of harmful content online, whether that's

01:15age inappropriate material, violent content or sorts of material that will impact their

01:20mental health. Tech companies absolutely need to be taking much greater responsibility for

01:24the harms that we know children are facing online. For too long, organisations like the

01:29NSPTC have been calling for greater action and for tech companies to step up, but we

01:34haven't seen enough movement yet.

01:37The Labour Party has proposed strengthening online safety for children, including measures

01:41to hold tech companies accountable for harmful content.

01:46So parents can visit the NSPTC's online safety hub. Now, this has a wide range of resources

01:51that parents can look at, anything from starting those conversations that can be tricky about

01:57how do you approach difficult subjects with your children.