Last updated: 2nd October 2024
According to the 2024 Ofcom report into media attitudes among children and their parents, a third (32%) of 8-17 year olds reported seeing something worrying or nasty online in the past 12 months.
What's more, almost two-fifths say they have adopted ‘riskier’ online behaviours. This is when children hide their internet activity so no one can check what they’re viewing.
Surfing in incognito mode (22%) and deleting browsing history (23%) were the two most common actions reported. This was out of four identified ‘risky measures’, the other two being:
So, how are parents supposed to monitor what their children look at online?
Activating broadband parental controls will help your child stay safe while they browse, study and interact online. We'll show you how to control internet access, so everyone at home can use broadband with confidence.
Broadband parental controls let you decide what your children can and cannot access online, as well as allowing you to monitor their internet usage.
Please keep in mind that broadband parental controls are powerful tools that you should talk to kids about before implementing at home.
Full guidance for approaching this topic can be found at the NSPCC website.
Depending on your provider, features of broadband parental controls will vary from household to household. Most networks typically offer a variety of tools, such as content filters, screen time limits and parental monitoring. Here, we’ll chat you through in more detail what controls are likely to be available to you and how they work:
These are a common feature of broadband parental controls, helping to reduce the chances of children encountering inappropriate content online.
Some content filters also allow you to set different age limits for different children, so your youngest are better protected from sensitive material.
Certain websites and internet platforms, including Google and YouTube, let you switch on a family-friendly filter. If you do this, it will block any content deemed unsuitable for children.
It’s a great functionality to use alongside other broadband parental controls. Although, keep in mind that a lot of older children will be able to navigate around this, so use it only if your kids are very young.
Whether you’ve got kids who love playing video games, streaming their favourite shows or just chatting with their friends via social media, some broadband parental controls let you set specific times for internet use.
After this, the internet gets turned off.
You can also restrict access to certain websites at different times of the day with broadband parental controls.
As far as monitoring goes, broadband parental controls let you see exactly which sites your children have been visiting and how they’ve been using them.
If you suspect that your child has been exposed to material not appropriate for their age bracket, monitoring can be handy to double-check whether a website is suitable or not.
Blocking access to sensitive content by default, the UK Government first introduced mandatory filtering back in 2013.
Since 2020, Ofcom have been the UK regulator for internet censorship. This lets them action the removal of harmful content from social media platforms and websites and is part of their wider commitment to improving online safety .
It’s not just your home computer that gives children access to the internet anymore. Smartphones, tablets and even modern games consoles all allow kids to go online if they want.
For the most part, these devices usually have settings enabling parental controls, so be sure to check that they’re activated before letting your little ones hit the power button.
If your child uses the internet regularly while on the move, remember public Wi-Fi probably won’t have the same broadband parental controls activated like you have at home. The same goes for if your child is visiting a friend at their home.
You should therefore discuss the importance of safe, responsible internet use with them, along with notifying other parents about what they’re permitted to do online.
There are extra steps you can take to ensure your child is safe online with broadband parental controls, including:
Parental controls are sometimes included with security suites like Norton Family , but check your system carefully before installing anything new. You may already have the functionality you need.
The broadband parental controls you set up through your provider will affect all devices connected to the same network.
If you’re too strict, you may end up with blockers on websites you wanted to access yourself, so be sure to check what types of sites you’ve flagged and why.
Some broadband providers allow you to tailor broadband parental controls for specific users.
For example, Sky’s Broadband Buddy app lets you set different filter levels depending on the family member. This control feature is only available on smartphones and tablets.
In the UK, these are just some of the broadband providers that give customers free parental controls, which can be enabled at any time:
Other providers like Gigaclear do offer broadband parental controls, except they can only be enabled if you have a Linksys Velop router.
If safeguarding your child’s online wellbeing is a priority at home, then choose a broadband provider that makes parental controls easily accessible.
In any case, make sure you learn what parental controls come as standard when you compare broadband deals with Go.Compare.