Helping Children Stay Safe And Private Online

Children spend much of their day connected through games, messaging apps, video platforms, school portals and family devices. Online privacy can seem abstract to a child, yet it affects everyday choices such as sharing a photo, accepting a friend request or entering a name into a website.

Teaching digital safety works best as an ongoing family conversation rather than a single warning. Children need clear rules, practical skills and confidence that they can tell a trusted adult when something feels uncomfortable, confusing or unsafe.

Australian families face a wide range of online risks, from impersonation and scams to cyberbullying and unwanted contact. Advice from the eSafety Commissioner, schools and community organisations can support these conversations, but children also benefit from simple habits they can use at home, at a friend’s house or on public Wi-Fi.

Start with everyday privacy

Explain privacy in terms children understand. Their full name, school, suburb, uniform, sports team, daily routine and family holiday plans can reveal more than they expect. A photo taken outside the local footy oval may show a street sign, house number or school badge in the background.

Use ordinary situations to teach the difference between public, private and personal information. A child may share a favourite colour publicly, keep a password private and discuss a family problem only with a trusted adult. Repeating these examples helps children make better decisions without feeling frightened by the internet.

Make accounts harder to misuse

Strong passwords are a central part of protecting online identity. Help children create long, unique passphrases for important accounts, and explain why the same password should not be used for gaming, email and school services. A password manager can help older children and parents keep track of them securely.

Turn on multi-factor authentication wherever it is available, especially for email, cloud storage and social media. Review privacy settings together after an app update, since platforms can change their menus and default options. Children should also learn to lock their screen, avoid saving passwords on shared devices and sign out of accounts at school or in a library.

Teach scam and stranger awareness

Children should know that online strangers may pretend to be another child, a celebrity, a game moderator or a helpful customer-service worker. A request for a password, address, private image, gift card or urgent payment is a warning sign. Encourage children to stop, take a screenshot if safe and show an adult before responding.

Scams can arrive through text messages, email, gaming chats and social media advertisements. Australian families can use Scamwatch guidance to discuss fake parcel notices, competition prizes and messages claiming to come from a bank. Children should understand that a familiar logo or convincing profile picture does not prove that a message is genuine.

Build thoughtful sharing habits

Teach children to pause before posting. Ask them to consider who may see the content, whether it could be copied and how they might feel if a teacher, teammate or future employer saw it later. Even disappearing messages can be saved through screenshots or another device.

Location information deserves special attention. Disable location sharing for apps that do not need it, and avoid posting live updates about being home alone, leaving for a holiday or attending a regular activity. A family in Brisbane, Perth or regional New South Wales may use different services and platforms, but the same principle applies: share less personal detail with a wider audience.

Use devices and platforms together

Parents do not need to understand every game or app before starting a conversation. Ask children to demonstrate how blocking, reporting and privacy controls work. Playing a game together or watching a few short videos can reveal the language, advertising and contact features children encounter.

Set household agreements that cover screen-free times, device charging overnight and what happens when a rule is broken. Keep younger children’s devices in shared areas where practical, while giving older teenagers increasing privacy alongside clear responsibilities. A calm “come and tell me” rule is more useful than threatening to remove access immediately.

Schools may use learning platforms, video calls and group chats, so include education accounts in the family safety check. Talk about respectful behaviour in class chats and remind children that a schoolmate’s private message or embarrassing image should never be forwarded. Local schools often send cyber-safety resources home, making them useful prompts for a family discussion.

Protect wellbeing and body safety

Digital safety includes emotional and physical wellbeing. Endless notifications, upsetting content and pressure to reply can affect sleep, concentration and confidence. Encourage children to mute chats, take breaks and move away from content that makes them anxious or distressed. Parents looking for broader wellbeing information can also explore the health and wellbeing hub.

Body-safety rules apply online as much as they do offline. No one should pressure a child to send a private image, keep a secret about online contact or continue a conversation that feels wrong. If an image has been shared, focus first on support and safety rather than blame. Save relevant evidence, block the person and report the material through the platform or appropriate Australian service.

Practise, review, and respond

Children learn digital safety through rehearsal. Role-play a suspicious direct message, a request to move from a game into a private chat or a friend asking for a password. Let the child practise saying, “I’m not sharing that,” ending the conversation and finding an adult.

Review the family approach as children grow. A primary-school child may need parental controls and supervised accounts, while a teenager may need guidance about reputation, dating apps, financial scams and consent. Technology changes quickly, so an occasional check-in is more effective than relying on rules written years ago.

Practical family habits

• Check app permissions, privacy settings and contact lists together each month.
• Use different passwords for email, school, gaming and financial accounts.
• Keep devices and operating systems updated to reduce security weaknesses.
• Agree on trusted adults a child can contact when a situation feels unsafe.
• Teach children to block, report and save evidence before deleting harmful messages.
• Review photos for uniforms, addresses, landmarks and location details before posting.

When something goes wrong, respond with steady questions: what happened, who was involved, what information was shared and what help is needed now? If a child expects anger or confiscation, they may hide the problem and stay exposed to it for longer. Reassurance creates the conditions for earlier reporting.

Digital citizenship also includes checking information before sharing it. News, videos and political claims can be edited or taken out of context; discussing how to assess online sources can lead into topics such as the electoral college guide and why different countries conduct elections differently.

Start with one conversation tonight, then choose one practical action such as enabling multi-factor authentication or reviewing a child’s privacy settings. Consistent guidance, patient listening and regular practice can help children become more confident, careful and respectful users of the digital world.