This Christmas, parents are being urged not to miss the critical 24-hour Safe Setup window, as part of a campaign launched by Microsoft to help parents manage safety settings across all the web connected devices in their home, new and old – including PCs, laptops, tablets, games consoles and smartphones.
Parenting on Female First
With UK retailers like Currys & PC World reporting a surge in demand for new technology, Christmas Day 2012 is likely to see more internet-connected devices given as gifts than ever before. However research shows that parents need help to set them up safely and quickly, ideally the moment they come out of the box.
To help parents and guardians activate safety settings within a critical 24-hour safety window, Microsoft has released a Twelve Steps from Santa checklist with twelve easy steps that parents can take on Christmas Day to ensure any new computers, phones or console are set up safely for all the family to use.
Nicola Hodson, General Manager of Public Sector, Microsoft UK and CEOP Board Member said: “We know that for any parent setting up a new device – whether it be a phone, a tablet or a games console – it is far easier to put in place consistent safety settings either before the presents are unwrapped or in the first twenty-four hours of use.
“If you miss that window, then it becomes much harder, especially with children and teenagers, to go back and set them up them later. So my advice for a happy New Year is - have the conversation early, agree rules that everyone can stick to, think about all of the devices in your home, and use technology tools like Windows 8 Family Safety to help manage your digital world this Christmas.”
The Twelve Steps from Santa are part of a new website dedicated to Whole Family Safety, backed by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre, UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) and Childnet.
Wholefamilysafety.com contains easy to navigate age-specific guidance to help parents decide what is the right approach to take for each member of their family, as well as product-specific advice for anyone setting up a new PC, tablet, laptop, games console or smartphone.
Microsoft has also partnered with Currys & PC World to distribute 50,000 copies of a letter from Santa Claus - offering parents key tips on how to make new devices safe for family gaming, entertainment, shopping and chat.
Alan Dardis, Head Of Computing Essentials for Currys & PC World said: “We’re seeing huge demand for gaming, entertainment and computing products in the run-up to Christmas; just in terms of tablets alone, we’re selling one every two seconds.
"We’re here to inspire families with exciting technology for the holidays but also want to encourage them to use their purchases responsibly in order to get the fullest benefit. It’s why we think the Whole Family Safety campaign is such a great and valuable initiative.”
The Twelve Steps from Santa includes tips such as, create separate user accounts for each member of your family, checking the PEGI rating of any new computer games, setting up an email address for the whole family and much more useful advice.
Child safety experts have offered their backing for the Whole Family Safety campaign.
Zoe Hilton, CEOP’s Head of Safeguarding, said: “It’s vital that parents understand the tools available to help keep their families safe online, and to know the steps they can take to guide their children’s behaviour when using technology. Campaigns like Whole Family Safety, especially at this time of the year, are a fantastic way to get the message out to parents about what they need to do.
“We’d encourage parents to explore the online world with their child, to talk to young people about how they are using the internet and think about safety from a practical point of view.”
Will Gardner, Chief Executive of Childnet, said: “Christmas is a really timely and important moment to think about child safety - if you are giving technology to a child, you need to be aware what the device can do, and make sure they know how to use it safely and responsibly.
"More and more technology does come with tools that can help parents, such as settings to filter out age-inappropriate content, and sites like Whole Family Safety can really help parents and carers make the most of these important features,” he said.
To read the Twelve Steps from Santa, go to www.microsoft.com/uk/familysafety/christmas-day-checklist.html