We all know how important the Internet is to children; they use it to learn, play and socialise.  It offers amazing opportunities for children to discover new things but it can also be the place where children could face bullying, contact from strangers or see inappropriate content.

Safer Internet Day 2026

St John’s support Safer Internet Day during February when pupils look at the different areas to do with Internet Safety.  This year the focus is on learning based around the theme ‘Smart tech, safe choices – Exploring the safe and responsible use of AI’.

Visit the UK Safer Internet Centre for helpful top tips for parents and carers.

What Are Social Media Age Restrictions?

In real life or online, age restrictions are about keeping children safe until they are old enough to engage with an activity with complete awareness of what they are letting themselves in for.

  • Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Reddit, Tumblr, Google+, Pinterest and Yellow have a minimum age requirement of 13.
  • YouTube and Flickr are 18, although children aged 13 can sign up to YouTube with parental permission.
  • You have to be 16 to sign up to WhatsApp.

Advice about key social media platforms and apps

How do you help your child stay safe online?

Visit the Internetmatters.org website which provides adults with the information they need to hold an informed conversation about online safety with their children.  Their latest essential safeguarding guide on TikTok is available here . 
Or UK Safer Internet Centre on how to set up filters on your home internet to help prevent age inappropriate content being accessed on devices in your home.

As a well-informed parent/carer, you can then show your child how to:

  • set privacy settings
  • report people and inappropriate conversations via “help” or “report” tab
  • block or ignore people on social networking sites and online games
  • set boundaries about which sites they can use and for how long.

How do you talk to your child about staying safe online?

Having an open discussion with your child about the possible dangers of new technologies could be useful. Childnet has compiled a list of questions which you can find here. Childnet has also produced a guide which we sent home last academic year and also a leaflet about Online Gaming.

Parent Zone

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