Parent Alert! How To Keep Your Kids Safe Online - Book review!

My girls spend time online most evenings. We have a rule that their are no electronics upstairs and that I am free to check what they are doing online any time. I think that I am quite savvy when it comes to everything online but there is things that I don't know and haven't thought about. I was recently sent a fantastic book to have a look at and it has really clued me up about everything online!

In summer 2017, TV presenters, best friends and mums Nadia Sawalha and Kaye Adams posted a video exposing the dangers of children's locations being identified on ‘Snap Map’, a feature on SnapChat. Their video attracted 26 million views in just three days. 

Inspired by this the reaction from other concerned parents, and constantly worried about what their own teenagers were getting up to online, Nadia and Kaye teamed up with international security expert Will Geddes to write Parent Alert!​ How To Keep Your Kids Safe Online. A comprehensive, go-to guide for parents and carers on the greatest digital dangers facing children online today.

What makes this book so unique is the no-nonsense, Q&A approach. For each topic, Nadia and Kaye describe real-life scenarios and ask the questions all parents face, and Will provides the answers, with jargon-free advice.

Each chapter provides easy-to-follow advice to help parents prevent problems their children may fall victim to online. Alongside these are clear action plans to resolve issues which may have already arisen, including tips on how to recognise the warnings signs if something is wrong, and when to seek professional help.

Sixteen chapters cover the crucial areas all parents of teens and tweens as well as younger children should be aware of including social media and the social networks and platforms your child is using, cyberbullying and trolls, sexting and nude selfies, online grooming, cyberstalking and tracking, cyber-crime, and other modern online threats.

I really think that as soon as a child becomes able to use the internet parents should be made to buy this book. It really is full of information and guidance. It was a real eye opener! 

There is plenty of hints and tips. Things like how to avoid oversharing when you take a photo or use a webcam and how to create strong passwords which I already knew but there was a lot of things which I didn't know about. How to spot fake apps, monitor what apps are being downloaded and how to set up a secure wi-fi connection.

The book is more than just stating facts. The facts are put into scenarios and questions are answered in a way that you can relate to. Nothing is too technical and everything is put in simple terms.

I found this book so interesting and very useful. I will be keeping it nearby so I can refer to it in the future when I have a point to prove about being safe online.

As a parent it is worrying how much danger there is online but after just skimming through this book I feel like I am more aware of these dangers and I am prepared to deal with it. Becky has been reading this book too and as a 16 year old it is really opened her eyes too about the dangers online. It has got us chatting about social media and how to use it safely.

If you have a tween or a teen I would highly recommend buying this. You can buy it from Amazon, Waterstones and most of the places where you would normally find books.

I was sent this book free of charge in exchange for this blog post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.