The internet is a brilliant place. You can play games, watch videos, learn amazing facts, and chat with your friends and family — all from a screen in your hand. Most of the time it's great fun, and nothing goes wrong at all.
But being online is a little like being out in a big, busy town. You'd have fun there too — yet you'd still look both ways before crossing the road, and you'd stay close to a grown-up you trust. Staying safe online works the same way: a few simple, sensible habits keep you safe so you can relax and enjoy yourself. This page shows you those habits. None of it is scary — it's just being sensible and kind, the same way you already are in real life.
Some things about you are private. That means they belong to you, and you get to choose who knows them. Online, the golden rule is: don't give private information to people you don't know in real life.
Private information includes things like:
Think of your private information like the key to your front door. You wouldn't hand your house key to a stranger in the street, would you? Your private details are just the same. It's fine to share them with people you know and trust in real life — but online, when someone you don't really know asks for them, the kind and clever thing to do is to keep them to yourself and tell a trusted adult.
A password is a secret word or phrase that keeps your accounts locked so only you can get in. A good password is like a super-strong lock: hard for anyone else to guess, but easy for you to remember.
A strong password is:
And here's the most important part of all: never share your password with anyone except a parent or trusted adult who is helping you. Not your best friend, not someone you met in a game, not a person who messages to say they "need" it. A real, trustworthy website will never ask you to tell someone your password.
Because a password that is long and unexpected is really hard for anyone to guess — but a picture of a purple tiger eating a banana is so funny that it sticks in your head easily! Short passwords like "cat" or "1234" are the first things a sneaky person would try. A long, silly one is both safer and more fun to remember. You can even make up a little story to go with your three words.
When you're chatting online, you usually can't see the other person's face or hear their voice. That means someone can pretend to be anyone they like. A person might say they are a ten-year-old who loves the same game as you — but online, there's no way to be sure that's true.
This doesn't mean everyone online is bad — most people are perfectly nice! It just means you can't always tell, so you should be a little careful with people you've only ever met online, the same way you'd be careful with a stranger in the street. Keep your private information to yourself, and remember that a true friend would never mind you being sensible and safe.
Sometimes a person online will pretend to be a friendly child — using a cartoon picture and chatting about games and toys — when they are really a grown-up you've never met. It can feel exactly like talking to a new friend.
So the rules stay the same, no matter how kind the person seems: never share your private details (your name, where you live, your school, your passwords), and never agree to meet up with someone you only know from online. And if anything ever makes you feel unsure, worried, or a bit funny in your tummy — tell a trusted adult straight away. You will never, ever be in trouble for telling them. That's exactly what they're there for.
Here is the most important idea on this whole page, so remember it well: if anything online upsets, scares, or confuses you, tell a trusted adult.
A trusted adult is a grown-up who looks after you and wants you to be safe — like a parent, a grandparent, a carer, or a teacher. If you see something mean, if someone says something that makes you uncomfortable, if a message seems odd, or if you clicked something by mistake — you don't have to sort it out on your own. Just go and tell them.
You are never in trouble for telling a trusted adult about something online. Even if you think you might have done something wrong, telling them is always the right and brave thing to do — and they will help you put it right. You are not alone. A grown-up who cares about you is only ever a quick "excuse me…" away.
There's a real person on the other side of every screen, with feelings just like yours. So the last habit is a lovely one: be kind online, just as you would be face to face.
A good question to ask yourself before you post or send anything is:
If the answer is yes, off it goes! Words on a screen can make someone's whole day brighter — or they can hurt, even when we don't mean them to. And if you ever see someone else being unkind online, you don't have to join in or argue back. The kind and clever thing is to tell a trusted adult, so they can help.
Because you can't see the other person's face! When you're playing in the same room, you notice at once if a friend looks sad — but through a screen, you can't see their eyes fill up. It's easy to type something quickly that you'd never say out loud. So a good trick is to imagine the other person is sitting right next to you. Would you still say it? If yes, brilliant. If not, it's kinder to leave it out.
Pop these five friendly habits in your pocket, and you're all set:
Do these things, and the internet becomes exactly what it should be: a safe, fun, friendly place to play, learn, and stay in touch. Well done — you're now a brilliant, safe explorer of the online world!