Online safety: children 6-8 years

Why online safety matters for children

School-age children like going online to look at videos, create videos, play games and connect with friends and family. They might also be using the internet for schoolwork, homework or hobbies. School-age children can go online using computers, mobile phones, tablets, watches, TVs and other internet-connected devices, including toys.

Because school-age children are starting to be independent online and might go online unsupervised, there are more online safety risks for them than there are for younger children. There are particular risks if your child goes online to communicate with others – for example, on messaging apps or in games.

You can help your child learn to be safe online. You can also take practical online safety precautions. This will protect your child from online safety risks. And it will also help your child make the most of learning, exploring, creating and connecting with others online.

As your child gets older and more confident and starts going online independently, you’ll need to review risks and strategies for handling them. Our article on online safety for children aged 9-11 years has ideas.

Online safety risks for school-age children

There are 4 main kinds of online safety risks for school-age children.

Content risks
These risks include illegal, inappropriate or harmful content and things that children might find upsetting, disgusting or otherwise uncomfortable. This might be sexual content in games or movies, pornography, racism, images of cruelty to animals, and real or simulated violence.

Contact risks
These risks include people that children don’t know or adults posing as children online. For example, children might be persuaded to share personal information or images with strangers or meet in person with someone they’ve met online. Or they might provide contact details after clicking on pop-up messages.

Conduct risks
These risks include acting in ways that might hurt others or being the victim of this kind of behaviour. For example, children might destroy a game that a friend or sibling has created. Another conduct risk is accidentally making in-app purchases.

Contract risks
These risks include signing up to contracts, membership agreements, or terms and conditions that children aren’t aware of or don’t understand. For example, children might click a button that allows a business to send them inappropriate marketing messages or collect their personal or family data. Or children might use a toy, app or device that isn’t password protected, which leaves them open to identity theft or fraud.

Helping children learn about online safety

It’s important to help your child learn how to be safe and responsible online. This will help your child avoid the content, contract, contact and conduct risks above. And when risks come up, your child will be more likely to know what to do or to ask for your help.

Good ways to help your child learn include:

going online together
talking about inappropriate online content
talking about appropriate online behaviour
being a role model
showing your child how to take care with privacy and personal information.

Going online with children

Going online with your child is one of the best ways to help them learn how to use the internet safely.

It gives your child a chance to show you the apps, games, videos or activities that they enjoy. And it gives you the chance to show them how to enjoy those things in a safe way.

For example, if your child likes to play games that include pop-up advertisements, you could talk with your child about not clicking on them. You could explain that pop-up ads are trying to sell things, or they might lead to sites with unpleasant pictures or sites that want personal or financial information.

Talking about inappropriate online content

It’s important for your child to learn that there’s good and bad content online. There’s also content that isn’t for children.

Here are things you can do:

Explain that sometimes children can come across inappropriate content. For example, a site might be OK for children, but the advertising it shows might not be. Parental controls and other filters can’t always protect against this.
Encourage your child to talk to you or another trusted adult if they see something that worries them. For example, ‘Sometimes people put horrible things on the internet. Some of it is made up, and some of it is real. If you see anything that upsets you, let me know’.
Name the inappropriate things your child should look out for. For example, ‘If you see a site with upsetting, scary or rude pictures, swearing or angry words, let me know. It’s not a good site for you to look at’.

Talking about appropriate online behaviour

Talking with your child about appropriate and inappropriate online behaviour can help your child to avoid some of the online conduct risks above.

Here are things you can do:

Tell your child not to do or say anything online that they wouldn’t do or say face to face with someone.
Encourage your child to think before posting photos or comments.
Help your child to walk away from online arguments. You could say, ‘Friends can say things they don’t mean. It’s good to let people get over their moods and not talk to them online for a little while’.

Calm, open and regular conversations about online content and behaviour can help your child feel that you trust them to be responsible online. And if your child feels trusted, they’re more likely to talk with you about what they do online and tell you about online experiences that worry them.

Being a role model for online safety

Your child learns from you. This means you can be a role model for online safety by using digital technology in the way you want your child to use it, now and in the future.

For example, you might keep internet-connected devices out of bedrooms, and use technology for positive purposes like sending supportive messages to friends, communicating with family, or setting a timer if you’re playing games.

Taking care with privacy and personal information

It’s a good idea to make sure your child knows not to communicate online with people they don’t know in person. This is particularly important if your child is using in-game social networks. For example, gaming sites like Roblox and Minecraft have messaging features that might allow strangers to communicate with your child.

Here are things you can do:

Ask your child to tell you if someone they don’t know in person contacts them online.
Explain that your child should never give out personal information. You could say, ‘Some people online are fakers. Never tell anyone online your name, address, phone number, birthday or school. Never send or share images of yourself’.
Ask your child to check with you before filling out membership forms on gaming sites, entering online competition entry forms and so on.
Check any new apps before your child uses them. In particular, check the terms and conditions about data collection and use.
Show your child how to check the privacy settings on apps.

It’s OK if your rules are different from those of other families. If you’ve thought them through and involved your child and family in making them and everyone is happy with the way they’re working, you’re helping to keep your child safe online.

Practical precautions to protect children from online safety risks

It’s important to help your child learn how to be safe online, but it’s also important to take practical precautions to protect your child from online risks of all kinds – content, contract, contact and conduct.

Where and how your child goes online

Use devices in shared spaces. This can encourage shared online experiences. It also means you’re close by and aware of what your child is doing online. You can act quickly if your child is concerned or upset by something they’ve seen.
Create a family media plan, and involve your child. Your plan could cover things like screen-free areas in your house, online safety rules like not giving out personal information, and programs and apps that are OK for your child to use.
Check other parents’ online safety rules before deciding whether your child can go to a friend’s house. For example, is your child’s friend allowed to be online independently?

What your child does online

Use search engines and messenger services that have been developed for kids – for example, Kiddle, Kidtopia and Messenger Kids.
Restrict content to trusted children’s content providers like ABC Kids and Cbeebies, or use YouTube Kids or KIDOZ, which can be restricted by age.
Check that games, online videos, TV series and websites are appropriate for your child. You can do this by looking at reviews on Common Sense Media or Children and Media Australia.

How you guide your child’s online activities

Check privacy settings and location services on apps and devices.
Use parental controls and safe search settings on browsers, apps, search engines and YouTube.
Add profiles and passcodes on pay TV and streaming services.
Limit camera and video functions on the devices your child uses.
Switch off in-app purchases and disable one-click payment options on the devices your child uses.

Try to avoid reviewing your child’s browser history or using surveillance apps to monitor your child’s online activity. This can send the message that you don’t trust your child. If you choose to do this, it’s best to discuss with your child why you’re doing it and for how long.