Optus Internet Security Suite

Safety Tips For Children And Parents

Make sure that you install filter software on your PC to block, screen and monitor unwanted content.

Spend time together with your children and understand what they like to do on the internet.

Teach your children about the dangers of talking to strangers online and to be careful about giving away personal details and passwords.

Ask and learn about what they are doing online. For example, what is chatting, blogging, Facebook, MySpace.

Optus Internet Security Suite wins IIA “Family Friendly Filter Award”

	A key feature of Optus Internet Security Suite is parental control, recently this was presented with the Family Filter Friendly award by the Internet Industry Association.

Protect your kids even when you are not around

With Optus Parental Control you can protect your kids from harmful content on the internet even when you are not around. The feature allows you to define when your children can use the internet, black list access to harmful sites and limit the time spent on the internet.

What is suitable for my child?

Using the below tool, select an age group to view our recommendations of how long your child should be spending on the internet and safety tips on what is appropriate for each age group. With Optus Parental control, each family member can have their own login with settings customized for their specific needs.

Please select your child’s age group for more information on:

Average time that should be spent on the internet .
Harmful websites may need to be blocked.
Safety tips.

To learn more about online safety, please visit http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/ developed by the ACMA as part of the Australian Government’s cyber safety

AGE 5-8

Children in this age group are starting to use the internet for school work. 1 to 1 and a half hours each day is plenty.
Safety tip- a lot of websites and games online require you to set a login name and password. Ask your child to let you know if they are starting a new account and remind them to never give away any personal information or passwords.

These recommendations are just suggested guidelines, you may wish to change any of the settings to suit the needs of you and your family.

AGE 9-12

For Children aged 9 to 12, 2 hours of internet time each day is plenty for doing school work.
Safety tip- For children at this age you may also want to block out certain websites. Such as social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. Facebook is intended for children 13 years and over. Some materials and postings may not be suitable for younger children.

These recommendations are just suggested guidelines; you may wish to change any of the settings to suit the needs of you and your family.

AGE 13-16

For children between the ages of 13 to 16, they may need to spend more hours on the internet for school work.
Each day they would probably need about 2 to 2.5 hours to spend on the internet researching for school work. You can always allocate more time for them to spend online on the weekends.
Children this age also love to play online games. You may want to only allow them to play on the weekends. Setting less time for them to use the internet during the week but a little more time on the weekends.
Safety tip- Although the internet is a great tool for education and research. You should remind them that not everything they read on the internet is true. Make sure they check the source and ask if they are unsure.

These recommendations are just suggested guidelines, you may wish to change any of the settings to suit the needs of you and your family.

Age above 17

Young adults are mostly responsible enough to decide what is suitable for their own needs, but if you still have the option to block out sites that you don’t want your child to access. Such as websites with gambling, violence or adult content.
Safety tip- Do not give away any passwords especially over the internet. They should be set strong enough so that they other people cannot guess them. If possible they should be changed regularly.

These recommendations are just suggested guidelines, you may wish to change any of the settings to suit the needs of you and your family.