In the past, I’ve admitted to being a helicopter parent and although I am still pretty overbearing involved in Sausage’s life, I do try to step back a little now that she’s getting older. Although she’s one of the youngest in her school year, she’ll be going into Year 4 in September, which means that that it’s won’t be long until boys and secrets with her friends are on the agenda. As someone who was mortified to discover her mother read her diary when she was a teenager, I firmly believe that kids should be given respect and privacy, but this can be tricky in modern life because of the Internet.
The best thing we can do is to properly educate our kids about staying safe online and self-moderation, so that we can afford them a little more autonomy and not have them feel like we’re looking over their shoulders all the time. That’s why, when I heard that Azoomee had teamed up with the NSPCC to create an app, including a series of lessons for kids about staying safe online, I was thrilled. Take a look at what it offers here:
Azoomee from Azoomee on Vimeo.
The Azoomee app is available on both Android and Apple (there’s a free 15-day trial available), and it’s basically an all-encompassing safe space for kids to use. Within the app, kids can choose to do arts and crafts, play games or watch kid-friendly TV shows. The art section allows kids to share their creations with friends and family who’ve been pre-approved by a parent, which means that kids can still communicate through the app without needing to use an unsecured and potentially unsafe messaging app.
What’s more, this summer Azoomee is running a series of FREE, weekly, interactive learning sessions based on Search It Up, an animated series on digital literacy and online safety. Search It Up was produced by Azoomee, written by BAFTA winner, Dave Ingham and created by BAFTA award winning production studio, ArthurCox.
I love the fact that the Azoomee is suitable for both of my kids as there’s content within that suits all ages, meaning that we don’t need to have two different services running for each of them. At the end of the day, anything that’s able to give parents a little bit of peace of mind is worth every penny in my opinion! Sausage is getting a phone for her birthday (shh! don’t tell!) so this would be the perfect way to ease her into the responsibility of having her own device.
How much does a subscription to Azoomee cost?
- Monthly subscription: £4.99
- 6-monthly subscription: £29.95
- Annual subscription: £44.93 (three months free!)
You can also follow Azoomee on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, or go and have a read of their blog which is packed full of useful info.
Is this the sort of thing you’d install for your child? Have you already tried Azoomee and love it? Leave me a comment below!
We haven’t delved into parental control apps yet but I’m sure we will at some point … will go and check this out
We have got parental settings on all the kids tech, this looks like a great idea to keep them safe
Great article thanks! Just to let you all know that the second episode of the Search It Up sessions has gone live today: http://azoomee.com/index.php/internet-safety-with-azoomee/ Hope you enjoy it! If you have any feedback then we’d love to hear from you at hello@azoomee.com
Thank you for this! I will have a look at it!
I’m all for anything that helps to keep kids safe online and the Azoomee app looks very useful. Thanks for sharing.
Mine are 13 and 11 now and we’ve always talked openly about things like this. THey’re both sensible and they know that I do random spot checks 😉 I don’t read messages though but I do look at who they’re messaging x x
I am not sure how I feel using a paid app, when I know I can do similar with my broadband provider. My boys are 10 and 11 and this is something that I still worry about.
With 3 young daughters, their approaching engagement with the online world worries me. I’m a Digital Native and understand through experience the damage that can be done. This app brings me a little comfort. Thank you for highlighting it, I’d never heard if it but will be checking it out.
Well, I am not too app inclined. I just use the basics Twitter, Insta, Facebook, Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp. They all seem good but after downloading the mobile starts crashing too often or my computer becomes very slow. So, personally, I avoid extra apps.
Oh I will have to have a look into this as I am always worried about what the kids might come across online x
This looks interesting. I have 2 daughters, 3 and 10 and things like internet safety etc do concern me. Will have to take a look at this app. Thanks for sharing
Thanks for this – have been looking for an online safety app. Shall have to check it out x
Im so gonna get this for my nephew!! he is obsessed with the iPad and all
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Have recently had an issue with eldest playing games online and receiving messages etc, so have become really sensitive to whats out there. School did some good workshops which were ace but I do monitor internet usage quite closely now.
My daughter’s friends are now getting phones and it is very worrying what they can stumble upon. I haven’t heard of this app before but it seems worth checking out the free trial.