Are our kids safe online? - with Sarah from Secure Foundations

In our 126th episode of Beyond the Bump, we chat with Sara Bolitho from Secure Foundations. We've had Sarah on the poddy before where we spoke about body autonomy and speaking to our kids about consent (EP106 is you haven’t already listened!) However, this episode focuses purely on our kids' online safety. Now we have to admit, this is episode quite a hectic one, and you may not step away feeling ‘lighter than you did before’, but it's still an important conversation to be had. We know that there is some dark shit out there on the internet - that's no surprise to anyone. Our aim for this episode is to give people permission to use this information as they will; we definitely do NOT want to make anyone feel guilty if their kids have screen-time as we know how difficult parenting is and sometimes that is your only break for the day. Trigger warning!! There are discussions about child abuse, online child abuse material and suicide, so if you're already feeling like you're in a very vulnerable position of parenting we give you complete permission to not listen to this episode - we will not be offended. Is there an age that we should we be giving our kids a phone? What about Kids YouTube? Is that secure or not? Is it best to have an honest conversation with our kids about the potential dangers they could come across online? Or is it best to just keep them innocent? What kinds of things should we be telling our kids when it comes to talking to them about their online safety? Why doesn’t Sarah have her kids on the internet or social media? And questions Sarah want’s our audience to consider when it comes to posting our kids online. Does Sarah see a positive outcome for our children and the internet? When should we talk to our kids about pornography, internet safety and sexting? And some examples of how to have this conversation. What can we do as parents to keep our kids safe online and on social media? What about Facebook Kids? What warning signs should we be looking out for? When should we be alarmed? If our kids are using devices, do those restricted access type things work? And at what age do you stop controlling and monitoring their devices? How can you help a child after a traumatic event?   Goodies mentioned @securefoundations   Beyond the Bump is a podcast brought to you by Jayde Couldwell and Sophie Pearce! A podcast targeted at mums, just like you! A place to have real conversations with honest and authentic people.  Follow us on Instagram at @beyondthebump.podcast to stay up to date with behind the scenes and future episodes.