Resources BlogApril 2026

'What I wish my parents or carers knew...'

The Children's Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, has published a guide to help parents and carers navigate the challenge of managing children's everyday online habits. Written with direct input from children and young people, including teenagers consulted in schools and the Commissioner's Youth Ambassadors. The guide is designed to make difficult conversations easier and more regular.

The guide covers setting boundaries around phone use, talking about harmful content, and building ongoing communication that goes beyond a one-off conversation. The voice of young people runs through it, including this from one teenager: "Don't be afraid to be firm… If you are worried your child is seeing harmful content and you don't know what they're watching and it's affecting their behaviour, just take it that you know best, they don't."