Tech-fret parents find hope in digital do’s and don’t

Like many kids, Jamison and Isabella prefer YouTube to TV. Their dad feels overwhelmed trying to ensure their online safety.

Sarah and Jacob Spencer with Jamison, 7, and Isabella, 5, at home in Northcote, Melbourne. Picture: Aaron Francis

Like many kids their age, Jamison Spencer, 7, and his sister Isabella, 5, prefer YouTube to TV. And like many parents, their father Jacob ­admits to at times feeling overwhelmed trying to ensure their online safety.

“The pace of change is what I notice. It feels like just as you learn what is the best thing to do for your children’s safety online, you are already out of date,” the Melbourne father says.

“It astounds me how fast they are online, how quickly they can find what they want to watch, even at their age. Even though our computer is in our kitchen, it still concerns me what they might ­encounter if they are just mindlessly surfing.”

His wife, Sarah, says she is anxious about the looming family discussion around online safety. “I don’t want to have it too early ­because I don’t want to take away their innocence, but at the same time I want to have the conversation before they come across something explicit or dangerous.”

The Spencers now have a lifeline. The nation’s eSafety Commissioner on Saturday launches a world-first interactive cyber ­safety hub providing age-appropriate advice to children, teens, parents and schools about how to tackle the thorniest of issues, ­including revenge porn, “sex­tortion” or nude-selfie blackmail, trolling, cyber-bullying and gaming addiction.

The hub, at esafety.gov.au, also has information for adults looking for online safety support on issues such as scams and identity theft, and even how to manage your digital presence when you die.

And there’s a simple reporting tool for cyber-bullying, online abuse and illegal content, with the eSafety Commissioner then taking steps to investigate and, where appropriate, have the content removed. “For children, it’s not a matter of if they will encounter online abuse, but when,” eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said. “We know through our research that 81 per cent of parents with preschoolers say their child uses the internet, and of this group, 94 per cent say this is happening by the age of four.

“Parents need to be engaged in their children’s online lives as much as they are in their regular lives. YouTube is connected to the internet. It’s like letting a stranger into your living room.”

There are strategies for young people on what to do if they are sent an unwanted nude image, on when banter becomes bullying. For parents there is advice on the basics of online safety and on how to start those hard conversations.