- Figures show 4 in 10 grandparents will be left in charge of the kids over the summer – yet many will be in the dark over what kids get up to online
- Internet Matters urges grandparents to get involved with the digital lives of their grandkids to keep them safe during the school holidays
- New guide has simple-to-understand tips on biggest issues in children’s online safety, including screen time, livestreaming and cyberbullying
Tuesday 31 July, 2018. LONDON, UK. Not-for-profit organisation Internet Matters has created a guide designed specifically for technologically-challenged grandparents to help them be a little less ‘generation granalogue’ and more ‘Insta-gran’.
More children are expected to turn to their screens during the school holidays, as they keep in touch with friends over Snapchat or Instagram or play the latest online games such as Fortnite and Roblox.
Grandparents stepping in to help over the summer break are being urged to get involved with the digital lives of their grandchildren so they can recognise the potential risks kids face online.
Psychologist and TV presenter Dr Linda Papadopoulos, Ambassador for Internet Matters, said: “Many grandparents now play a pivotal role in bringing up children, with five million in the UK taking on childcare responsibilities for time-poor parents.
“Yet there is often a gulf of knowledge between the grandchild and the grandparent about what happens on the internet. We regularly hear stories about how grandparents can get overwhelmed by new tech and in which case end up burying their heads in the sand.
“It can be a struggle especially if children see that lack of knowledge as an opportunity to do what they want online while their parents aren’t around. It’s important that the whole family understands how important it is to stay safe online.”
Carolyn Bunting, CEO of Internet Matters, added: “We hope our guide will give grandparents a rounded picture of the things to look out for and give them confidence to learn more about the future generations’ online habits.
“We’d love to see grandparents and their grandchildren exploring the internet together in the safest way possible.”
The guide for grandparents is divided up across nine categories: Screen time, online gaming, parental controls, cyberbullying, sexting, live-streaming, inappropriate content, peer pressure and location settings.
The new guide can be found at: https://www.internetmatters.org/resources/grandparents-guide-to-online-safety/
