Know IT All for Parents

SMART guide

S is for SAFE

It’s great chatting to people online and making our own websites for other people to look at, but you need to make sure you keep yourself safe, by being careful not to give out personal information like your full name, your email address and your phone numbers.

Also things like your home and school addresses and photos of yourselves and your family and friends.

All of these things are personal information and need to be kept private to keep yourself safe online. So, just like you wouldn’t tell a stranger on the street where you went to school, remember not to tell them this sort of information when you are using the internet.

It is really important that you keep this information safe online because you can’t be sure where it will end up, what it will be used for, or who may contact you.

Remember that once you send something to another phone or to the internet it can easily be copied or changed and it could stay online forever.

M is for MEETING

It is important to remember that meeting someone you have only been in touch with online, can be dangerous. Only do so with your parents’ or carers’ permission and even then, only when they can be present.

You should never feel pressurised to MEET up with anyone online. Sadly, some people lie about themselves online and pretend to be someone they’re not—it is really hard to know if someone is telling the truth online if you have never met them in real life.

It can also be hard to remember that someone is still a stranger even if you have been chatting to them for ages and they feel like a good friend.

If you feel that you ‘have to’ meet then you must take your parent or carer with you and meet in a public place, during the day.

You can get more help to find out how to chat safely to other people on the internet at Childnet’s Chatdanger website: chatdanger.com

A is for ACCEPTING

Accepting emails, Instant Messages, or opening files, from people you don’t know or trust can lead to problems—they may contain viruses or nasty messages!

If you open, download or ACCEPT files or emails from people you don't know you might be putting your computer or yourself at risk, which is not fun!

It can be a real pain, and make your time on the internet very frustrating.

So remember to always delete emails or messages from people you don’t know and make sure you block senders who send you junk mail or nasty messages.

Check with someone at home to see if your computer has anti-virus software installed. If it doesn’t, you can check out how to install this and find out other ways to keep your computer secure, on Childnet’s Sorted website: childnet.com/sorted

R is for RELIABLE

Unfortunately not all information you find on the internet is true, and sometimes people online may be lying about who they are.

Not all websites or people are RELIABLE because anybody can write anything they want online.

Also remember to compare the information you find online with other websites, books or people, to make sure it is true. It’s also a good idea to learn how to block others so you can stop chatting to people you don’t want to talk to anymore.

There is a really helpful website that you can use as a guide to check whether or not a website is reliable. It's called QUICK: quick.org.uk

T is for TELL

Remember it’s never too late to tell your parent, carer or a trusted adult, if someone or something makes you feel worried online or if someone is sending you nasty messages or pictures. Unfortunately sometimes people say, or do things online, that are not nice or pretend to be someone they’re not. There are also things online that you wouldn’t want to see or read.

Luckily though, there’s always someone you can tell, or someone you can report things to. Is there someone in your family? What about at school? Who would you tell at home?

There are organisations that can help you if you get into difficult situations. For example, if you suspect, or know that you, or someone you know is talking to an adult online and the adult wants to meet up or makes you feel afraid, then you can report this directly to the police through a special website called Thinkuknow.co.uk

All reports are taken seriously and a police officer will get in contact with you. Remember you can also ring ChildLine on 0800 1111 for help in any situation.

Congratulations you’ve finished the SMART rules section.