U - Using online safety and wellbeing tools
Using online safety and wellbeing tools
This activity is all about using safety and wellbeing tools to help your child use their phone safely and build healthy digital habits. You’ll explore the different tools, controls and safety settings you can use on the phone itself, as well as in different apps and games.
Safety features
To get started, take it in turns to pick a safety feature below and have a go at describing what it might do and where you could find it.
Once you’ve found all these tools, agree together which ones you are going to use on your phone and how you will use them. Make a note of these – you can use these to help you make your pledge later.
Content filters
What kind of words and phrases might be good to filter out?
Screentime limits
How might this help you to build healthy digital habits with your phone?
Muting and blocking features
In what situation might you want to mute or block somebody?
In-app reporting features
What kinds of things would it be a good idea to report?
Location settings
What would be a sensible rule to have about your location settings?
Remember...
The content we see online is often determined by algorithms. While these algorithms can show us things we normally look at, sometimes they show us content we haven't deliberately sought out - like popular videos or different random topics - to see if we might be interested. This means that sometimes harmful, upsetting or misleading content can be shown. If your child tells you about suggested content that worries them, it’s important to understand and acknowledge that this doesn't mean they've searched for it. You can use filters on most apps to try and make sure that certain types of content are not suggested.
Now you know what these tools do, find them on your phone or on another family member’s device and work out together how to use them. Make a note of them as they’ll help you with your family pledge at the end. Discover how your child can enjoy their phone safely with Vodafone’s Digital Parenting Pro resource.
Now you’ve completed U together, it’s time to move on to S - Support when facing challenges online.