Parents and carers play an important role in supporting their children to be safe online and on social media. You can help your children safely navigate their digital world and educate them to avoid harmful online experiences. You can explore websites, games, apps and social media together and set some rules and boundaries.
Your support and guidance can give your children the knowledge to make sound decisions online and confidence to ask for help when they need it. It is also important to stay informed about online safety.
The Department of Education recognises this important issue and has developed fact sheets about supports to help keep students safe online and what to do if they are involved in an online incident.
The fact sheets contain links to evidence-based information on supporting positive and safe online experiences, signs a child or young person might need support, what to do if something unsafe happens online, and where to reach out to for more support.
The fact sheets are available in 19 community languages. They are:
- Student fact sheet (secondary): how secondary students can have a healthy relationship with social media, recognise online exploitation and what to do if something goes wrong online.
- Parent fact sheet (primary): helps parents and carers prepare their child to be safe on social media even if they don’t use it yet, by building good online habits.
- Parent fact sheet (secondary): helps parents and carers support their child to be safe online, recognise signs they need help and know what to do if they have an unsafe online experience.
The government is also launching public consultation on age limits for social media.
You and your children can share your experiences to inform proposed changes via an online survey, before 5 pm on Friday 1 November 2024. For more information on the survey and to take part, refer to Proposed changes to social media age limits on the Engage Victoria website.
If you have any queries about this information, you can contact the department by email: bullystoppers@education.vic.gov.au