12 ways you can teach your children about online privacy!

Our kids have been spending more time on the internet with with it being the summer holidays, I know my youngest has especially. The internet is a fantastic place where kids can learn many things but curiosity can lead to dangers too. That’s why parents should educate their children about internet safety and privacy online.

12 ways you can teach your children about online privacy:

1. Set an example and become digital literate yourself, try out the apps and websites that your children are using but try not to push your opinion.

2. Start talking to your child early and do it often. They must know they are always welcome to come to you in case of any worries or doubts.

3. Talk to them about cyberbullying. Show how to block unwanted people or report their inappropriate actions online. Most of all help them understand they are not alone, they can always come and talk to you.

4. Talk about social media and messaging. Discuss what your child should and should not share on social media platforms. They must understand that what goes on the internet, stays on the internet. Nothing is ever 100% private.

5. Explain why privacy matters especially when talking to strangers. Talk about what kind of information is shareable online. Predators can use their address, school location, and other information against them.

6. Create strong passwords together. Advise your child to choose strong passwords which are different for each account. It might be challenging to come up with and memorise a vast number of logins but it's better to be safe than sorry.

7. Manage privacy settings. Most social media or messaging services allow their users to manage their privacy settings. Sit down with your child and adjust those settings to make sure your kid’s profile is as safe and private as possible.

8. Explain why free public Wi-Fi is dangerous. Everybody loves free Wi-Fi, and children are not an exception but public places may have unsecured Wi-Fi networks which may be monitored by third parties.

9. Talk about ads and online offers. Nothing is ever totally free. Advise your child to be careful about deals that may look too good to be true. Some offers may be scams designed to extract private information.

10. Install games and apps together. Make sure you download all games and apps from secure sources. Also, check that both the app and its provider are reputable. Fake pop ups often prompt kids to install various applications for free but that may result in malware infecting the device or the whole home network.

11. Discuss viral news, some of these might turn out to be fake. In the future it will get harder to tell fabrications from reality. Talk about fact checking and trustworthy websites.

12. Use safety solutions. First of all make sure that the search engine your kids use has a search filtering option enabled and make sure to update your antivirus regularly in case your child does download an infected file.

What do you do to keep your children safe online?

A trifle with a twist: Tiramisu Trifle - Recipe!

Want a trifle but also want something different from the classic type? Try this Tiramisu Trifle from the Easy Peasy Baking Campaign instead! Using only 9 ingredients to make layers of chocolate custard, coffee soaked sponge and mascarpone custard anyone can layer up this luxurious dessert to impress over the summer for a decadent alternative to one of the nation's favourites.

Makes 1 x 20cm / 3.5 litre trifle.

Prep time: 10 mins to mix sponge, 20-25 to bake, 15 mins to assemble.

Ingredients.

175g of caster sugar + extra for sweetening cream and coffee.

175g of unsalted butter, softened.

3 eggs.

175g of self raising flour.

45ml/3 tablespoons of milk.

500g of mascarpone cheese.

600ml of double cream.

2 tbsp instant coffee / 2 double espressos + 8 tablespoons of boiling water.

1 litre of chocolate custard.

Equipment.

20cm x 30cm traybake/roasting tin, lined with parchment.

Large mixing bowl.

Electric hand mixer.

Spoon.

Jug.

Trifle dish.

Method.

Preheat the oven to 160°c (fan).

In the mixing bowl, cream together the butter and 175g caster sugar, add the eggs, followed by the flour and milk and mix until just combined.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and springy to touch. Allow to cool completely.

Once cooled, remove the sponge from the tray, trim the edges and cut into 32 squares. Prepare the coffee and sweeten to taste.

Whisk together the mascarpone and double cream with the extra caster sugar until thick/soft peaks. Be careful not to over whip.

Place a layer of sponge squares in the base of the trifle dish and pour over half of the coffee, allowing it to soak into the sponge. Then, pour half of the custard on top, followed by half of the cream, spreading to the edges.

Repeat the three layers again and dust with cocoa powder to finish.

This recipe is from the Easy Peasy Baking campaign, launched by UK Flour Millers, making baking simple.

Thoughts about having Covid.

A few weeks ago we all caught Covid. Stu tested positive for on the Saturday, Becky and I the Tuesday morning and Ellie the Tuesday afternoon! I have had so many emotions and thoughts while we've all been testing positive and thought I would write some of them down.

When Stu said he felt unwell I was worried as he is never ill, I knew it was Covid and the lines on the test just confirmed it. He slept on and off for 24 hours which again isn't like him.

If it wasn't for Stu being so ill we might have just put it down to a normal summer cold. The symptoms were the same.

Stu isolated as much as he could, I cleaned everything that I could and tried my best to keep us safe but it wasn't enough. I felt like I had let us all down but it was inevitable and I suppose it's better that we all caught it at the same time instead of dragging it out.

When I tested and saw the two lines I couldn't believe it as I didn't feel that unwell but it was expected. It was more of a shocker for Becky as she had no symptoms at all. A couple of years ago I didn't believe that lateral flow tests worked that well but now I have so much faith in them.

It feels like we are the last people to get Covid.

I am glad Becky's work took her seriously and her word that she had a positive test as before Christmas when Covid was in full swing and she had all the symptoms she was made to go in to work while she was ill, thankfully she was negative then but did get sent home anyway. Now they have just taken her word she is positive, although she would have been happy to go into work to take a test.

Day one of having Covid I felt tired but didn't want to go to bed because it felt like I was just running on adrenaline and I thought if I slept I would wake up feeling rotten but thankfully that didn't happen. 

I kept thinking is this it? I kept expecting us to all feel worse but we never did. Ellie has had worse bouts of hayfever!

Getting my period on day 2 of Covid was just an added extra pain to deal with.

I feel like I have missed out on my share of having to isolate, I would have quite liked to hide out in my bedroom, snoozing a little, sitting in bed with my laptop and being served food and drinks.

I did enjoy staying in my pj's for a few days.

I had to have an upsetting chat with Ellie. A couple of years ago one of her friends lost her mum to Covid and I think Ellie was really worried about Stu and I. I said that we have all been vaccinated and boosted since then, we have some protection from it and we are not as ill as her friends mum was. It was heart breaking.

I have been drinking plenty which is great but coughing, sneezing and needing a wee all at the same time is not fun.

Stu lost his sense of taste and smell for a couple of days, I thought I had too but then realised I couldn't smell because my nose was so blocked up.

I thought everyone with Covid lost their appetite? I didn't, if I wasn't eating I was thinking about my next meal which I suppose was a good thing, it meant that my body had enough energy to fight off the virus.

It turns out we can live on cereal, toast and ready meals. After a week we were craving proper home cooked food though.

Even though I wasn't that ill the exhaustion afterwards is real.

We didn't have to isolate, there is no rule saying we should now but we did! I wouldn't want to pass the virus on to anyone who was vulnerable.

I was the last to test negative and never thought I would just get that one line again. It did seem to drag on.

I am very grateful for the vaccinations and boosters that we had! I feel we got off so lightly with Covid.

Have you had Covid? How were you with it?

Our weekly meal plan! 22nd - 28th August. #MealPlanningMonday

Last weeks meal plan was a bit hit and miss. We ate just about everything but instead of sandwiches, cakes and crisps on Wednesday I made a chicken and ham hock pie with a creamy sauce. It was so good and so different from the gravy type filling we usually have. I seem to have lost my appetite since I have had Covid which is odd because when I was feeling ill I couldn't fill myself and wanted to eat everything. I am hoping to get my appetite back this week with some tasty meals. I am already looking forward to quite a few that I have planned. It seems ages since we've had a beef roast dinner, pulled pork and a curry.

Stu had a lovely birthday and we all really enjoyed the takeaway. Getting 20% off Just Eat with the Cheeky Tuesday discount was a real bonus. We still have a meal out to have with a voucher but I think we're going to wait until Ellie goes back to school and we can make a day of it. 

We have a few of plans this week. Ellie has a check up at the dentist, Becky has to return her college laptop and we're planning a trip to the cinema finally. We seem to have been on about going to the cinema for weeks and haven't got around to it. This week we will. 

On the menu this week we have:

Monday - The roast dinner we didn't have yesterday. Beef, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, carrots, broccoli and Yorkshire puddings.

Tuesday - Pulled pork in wraps.

Wednesday - Sandwiches, cakes, crisps. A lazy tea.

Thursday - The Thai-Style coconut chicken with sweet potato fries that we didn't have a couple of weeks ago.

Friday - Pizza.

Saturday - Curry, rice, naan bread, poppadoms and mango chutney.

Sunday - Pie, mash and veg.

What are you eating this week?