Online safety and support

Online awareness: Information for parents and caregivers (PDF, 4.2MB)

This guide provides important information for parents about cybersafety and cyberbullying. It suggests what parents and caregivers could do if their child is the target or is responsible for inappropriate online behaviour.

Social media and the school community (PDF, 1.5MB) 

This guide provides information to parents and caregivers about how to use social media in relation to comments or posts about their school community.

Enhance your digital identity (PDF, 3.2MB)

This overview provides a useful checklist to help review and clean up your digital footprint—the trails or traces of data left by everything you share online. This advice is easy to follow and can be used by teenagers, teachers, parents and caregivers.

Social media providers may remove content that breaches their terms of service or acceptable use policies. Most websites and apps have a 'report/block this person' or 'report/flag content' function.

If you don't know who the person responsible is or if they refuse to delete it, you can report the content to the social media administrators for review and possible removal.

Common links for reporting inappropriate social media content:

• Facebook 
• Instagram 
• Google (including YouTube) 
• Twitter 
• Snapchat 
• Tik Tok 

The Department of Education has programs to help primary and secondary students understand what they should and should not do online. You can read more about cybersafety in Queensland state schools and download eye-catching posters at this Cybersafety page .

Manage screen time and online content

When students are connected to the internet, consider installing some form of internet filtering and parental control solution so you can set time limits, filter and block content and reward good behaviour. There are many options available, including free and paid products where some cover a single device and others cover multiple devices. The eSafety Commissioner's Taming the Technology  has more information.

Set clear rules and boundaries

Establish rules about what apps, websites and programs your child is allowed to access. Set screen time limits that best suit your household and set boundaries about where technology can be used. Make clear rules about who your child can connect with whilst they are online, and what language is appropriate and acceptable. These conversations are crucial so your child understands your family's rules and consequences.

Check online contacts and friends

Remind your child that sometimes people pretend to be someone they’re not, even using profile pictures from real people’s accounts. Just because it looks like the profile of someone they know, doesn’t mean it is. It’s best to check whether a profile is legitimate before accepting friend requests or messages. Where your child is speaking with others they do know, encourage them to engage in a respectful manner and to alert you or a trusted adult if they feel uncomfortable at any stage.

Be responsible and positive

Ensure your child knows not to share personal information online, such as their school, address, date of birth, phone number or location. Remind your child to think before sharing any posts, images or messages online. All posts should be positive, useful and true to present themselves in a positive way and remain respectful of others.

Communicate with your child

This is a great time to have open discussions about their technology use and reassure your child that they can talk to you or another trusted adult about any online concerns, if they have made a mistake, or if someone makes them feel uncomfortable. The eSafety Commissioner's Start the chat and stay safe online (PDF, 2.7MB)  booklet has more information.

For more information about learning at home, visit learning@home .

Some tips to help your child stay safe while using social media include:

• make sure they never reveal their home address, phone number, email address and passwords
• review the age suitability for any sites and apps your child joins or installs
• look at who their contacts and followers are—this will help reduce the risk of them encountering inappropriate people and content
• educate yourself on the issues that children face 
• establish an open relationship with your child so they trust you to view their profiles
• reinforce the need for them to keep passwords private and to update them regularly
• ensure your child understands the implications of posting images and content  on the internet.

Consider creating an account on the social media application your child uses and request to become friends or follow their account. Your child may resist this but it may still be a good idea to open an account to increase your understanding of the site or app they are using.​