Essex Police urge that new devices should be set up correctly for children this festive season
Their "Sort Your Settings" campaign provides information to parents and carers about setting up devices
Essex Police are encouraging parents to be aware of what their children are doing online, and have a campaign available to provide more information on setting up new devices this Christmas.
They say there is a "huge increase" in the amount of devices being purchased this Christmas, and that it is "very important" for children to be protected online.
Not having controls and the correct settings could expose children to harmful content.
Cyber Crime Protection Officer Francesca Mudford said the campaign "aims to provide parents and carers with knowledge and practical advice on setting up devices safely."
"Especially around this time of year, there's a huge increase of purchasing electrical goods.
"A lot of devices and game consoles will have parental controls which can limit screen time. It can put a block on messaging and chats.
"There's also something else that parents can look into as well, which is adding parental controls on your router.
"What we want to do is bridge the knowledge gap for parents and carers, and support safer online environments to reduce any risks that children may face."
Francesca gave some advice on how children can notice when they may be at risk:
"I would say make sure the age restrictions on games are appropriate. So if young children are playing online games or on a games console and they're noticing content on there that may not be appropriate for their age, I would say that's one thing to look out for.
"Chat and messaging within games, I would say, is another thing for children to to look out for. If they're receiving any messages from people they don't know, maybe they're not their online friends.
"And we would encourage children to speak to their parents whenever they see anything like this."
She also said that parental awareness is "vital" for helping children to stay safe online:
"Parents can be the first line of defence and we know keeping children safe online is not an easy task. With new emerging technologies it can be really difficult to to keep up with it.
"I think understanding the risks and taking those proactive steps to make your children safe is very important. It just reduces the chance of children being exposed to potentially harmful content."
Essex Police's "Sort Your Settings" information is available on their website.