École Panorama Heights Elementary School Parent Advisory Council

Panorama Heights PAC

École Panorama Heights Elementary School Parent Advisory Council

Family resources

Family Computer Safety

A practical guide to setting up a safer computer and online experience for your child.

This guide provides practical steps parents and caregivers can use to strengthen account security, protect the computer, manage website access, set family controls, and support safer digital habits.

The guide focuses on computers, but many of the same principles also apply to phones and tablets.

About this guide: This resource provides general information and practical suggestions for personal and family-owned devices. It is intended to support safer technology use and digital well-being at home.

Family Computer Safety Checklist

  • Create a separate child account — Keep administrator access with a parent or caregiver.
  • Use strong passwords or passphrases — Use long, unique passwords and avoid reusing them across important accounts.
  • Turn on updates and built-in security — Keep the operating system, browser, and security protections up to date.
  • Set up website filtering — Use family-safe filtering to help reduce access to dangerous or inappropriate websites.
  • Turn on family controls — Use the controls available through Microsoft, Google, Apple, or other family-control tools to manage apps, websites, purchases, and screen time.
  • Talk about safe online habits — Discuss screen time, sharing personal information, searching, downloads, gaming, social media, and when to ask a parent or caregiver for help.

1. Create a Separate Child Account

  • Create a separate account for your child instead of sharing a parent or caregiver account.
  • Use a standard account so important computer settings and software installations require parent or caregiver approval.
  • Keep administrator access private and do not share the administrator password.
  • Decide how app and software installs will be handled and use approval controls where available.

Why this matters: A separate standard account helps prevent accidental changes, unwanted software installs, and changes to important security settings.

2. Passwords & Passphrases

  • Use a strong, unique password or passphrase for important accounts.
  • Do not reuse important passwords across email, school, gaming, or other services.
  • Use a password manager to help create and store strong, unique passwords.
  • Keep passwords private and do not share them with friends.
  • Keep account recovery information up to date — make sure recovery email addresses or phone numbers are current so an account can be recovered if access is lost.

Passphrase example

Purple-Penguins-Dance-After-Sunset!

A good passphrase is long, memorable, and made from several unrelated words. Create your own and do not use this example as your actual password.

Why this matters: If one password is guessed or exposed, unique passwords help prevent other accounts from being accessed too.

Tools & Options

  • Built-in password managers — options included with browsers and device platforms, such as Google Password Manager and Apple’s built-in password tools.
  • Online or cloud-synced password managers — services such as Bitwarden and 1Password can securely sync passwords across devices. Family plans can also allow selected passwords to be shared with other family members.
  • Local or offline password managers — tools such as KeePass keep the password database under the user’s control and can be useful for families that prefer not to use a cloud-based password service.

Good to know: Some accounts offer an extra sign-in step called multi-factor authentication (MFA), which may require a code or approval from another device. Passkeys are another secure sign-in option that can use a device PIN, fingerprint, or face recognition instead of a traditional password.

3. Updates & Built-in Security

  • Turn on automatic updates for the operating system, browser, and commonly used applications.
  • Keep built-in security protections enabled to help detect harmful files, programs, and suspicious activity.
  • Keep the firewall turned on to help control unwanted network connections.
  • Use browser security warnings and avoid disabling protections that flag unsafe websites or downloads.

Why this matters: Security updates fix known problems, while built-in protection helps reduce the risk from harmful software, unsafe downloads, and other common threats.

Tools & Options

Built-in protection

  • Windows Security / Microsoft Defender — built into Windows and provides antivirus, threat protection, and firewall controls.
  • macOS built-in security — Apple includes security protections, firewall options, and automatic security updates as part of macOS.

For many families, keeping the security already included with the computer enabled and up to date is a good starting point.

Optional commercial security software

Some parents and caregivers may want additional features, centralized management, or protection across multiple family computers.

  • Bitdefender — an optional commercial security suite with multi-device and family-oriented protection features.
  • ESET HOME Security — an optional commercial security suite with multi-platform protection and an emphasis on low system impact.
  • Sophos Home — an optional commercial security suite that can provide centralized web-based management for multiple family computers.

Avoid running multiple real-time antivirus products at the same time unless the vendors specifically support that configuration. More antivirus products do not automatically mean more protection.

Product note: Products and services are provided as examples only and are not endorsed by Panorama Heights PAC, the school, or School District 43. Parents and caregivers should review current features, pricing, compatibility, and privacy terms before choosing a product.

4. Website Filtering & SafeSearch

  • Use website filtering to help block known dangerous or inappropriate websites.
  • Turn on SafeSearch where available to help filter explicit content from search results.
  • Review filtering settings periodically as your child’s needs and online activities change.

Why this matters: Website filtering and SafeSearch can reduce exposure to unsafe, misleading, or inappropriate content, but no filter catches everything. They work best as one layer alongside family controls and regular conversations about online safety.

Tools & Options

There are many free and paid website-filtering tools available. These examples show different levels of control.

  • Cloudflare Family DNS — simple, free filtering
    A free option that can help block known malware, phishing, and adult content. It can be configured on a home router or on an individual computer. Cloudflare’s family-safe DNS addresses are 1.1.1.3 and 1.0.0.3.

  • Cloudflare One Client — more control
    A free client that can extend filtering to a computer when it is away from the home network. It is managed through Cloudflare’s web-based controls and requires additional setup.

  • Optional advanced Cloudflare controls
    More detailed website categories, custom allow/block rules, and activity visibility are available for parents and caregivers who want additional control. These options require more setup and ongoing management.

Product note: Products and services are provided as examples only and are not endorsed by Panorama Heights PAC, the school, or School District 43. Parents and caregivers should review current features, pricing, compatibility, and privacy terms before choosing a product.

5. Family Controls

Family controls can help parents and caregivers manage screen time, apps, websites, purchases, and some activity based on the child’s needs and household rules.

Built-in Options

  • Microsoft Family Safety — helps parents and caregivers manage Windows screen time, apps and games, purchases, and some activity. Web and search filtering is also available through supported Microsoft browsing experiences such as Edge.
  • Google Family Link — helps parents and caregivers manage a child’s Google Account, Chrome browsing, apps, screen time, and content on supported devices. On Windows and Mac, Family Link can still add controls to the child’s Google Account and Chrome browsing, but it does not manage the entire computer.
  • Apple Family Sharing + Screen Time — helps parents and caregivers manage app limits, screen time, website and content restrictions, privacy settings, and purchase approvals across supported Apple devices.

Commercial Options

Parents and caregivers who want broader cross-platform controls may also consider commercial parental-control tools.

  • Qustodio — cross-platform parental controls for website and app filtering, screen time, and activity review.
  • Net Nanny — website filtering, app controls, screen time, and parent visibility across supported devices.

Why this matters: Family controls help reinforce household rules and give parents and caregivers age-appropriate ways to manage access, screen time, and online activity.

Age-appropriate supervision: Family controls may allow parents and caregivers to review apps, websites, or other activity. Explain to your child what is being reviewed and why, and use these tools as part of ongoing conversations about safe and responsible technology use.

Product note: Products and services are provided as examples only and are not endorsed by Panorama Heights PAC, the school, or School District 43. Parents and caregivers should review current features, pricing, compatibility, and privacy terms before choosing a product.

6. Safe Online Habits

Children can encounter inappropriate content, misleading information, scams, unwanted messages, privacy risks, and pressure to spend more time online than is healthy. Building good digital habits helps support both online safety and digital well-being.

Parents and caregivers can help by setting clear expectations, talking regularly about online experiences, and showing children how to make safer choices when using technology.

Children should also know they can ask a parent or caregiver for help when something online feels suspicious, uncomfortable, confusing, or unsafe.

Screen Time & Healthy Use

Set clear expectations for when and how devices are used. Consider schoolwork, entertainment, gaming, meals, bedtime, and family time separately, and build in regular device-free time where it makes sense.

Family controls can help support these expectations, but ongoing conversations are just as important.

Sharing Personal Information & Photos

Teach children to be careful about sharing personal information such as their full name, school, home address, phone number, location, passwords, or photos that reveal where they are.

Encourage them to check with a parent or caregiver before sharing information with people or websites they do not know.

Searching & SafeSearch

Use SafeSearch where available to help filter explicit content.

Teach children to look carefully at search results, including sponsored links, unfamiliar websites, misleading headlines, and pages offering “free” prizes, downloads, games, or cheats.

Downloads, Apps & Browser Extensions

Decide as a family how downloads should be handled.

Children can be encouraged to ask before installing new apps, games, browser extensions, mods, or files, especially from unfamiliar websites or messages. Where available, family controls can also require parent or caregiver approval.

Gaming & Online Chat

Talk about who children interact with online, including friend requests from people they do not know.

Remind them not to share personal information and to check with a parent or caregiver if someone asks them to move the conversation to another app, website, or private chat.

Social Media

Parents and caregivers should decide which platforms, features, and types of content are appropriate for their child.

Review privacy settings, direct messaging, friend or follow requests, and sharing together, and keep in mind that many platforms have minimum-age requirements.

Good to know: Social-media rules and age requirements are changing. Parents and caregivers should stay aware of updates and review what is appropriate for their child.

AI tools and chatbots: Parents and caregivers should be aware of how their child is using AI tools and decide what level of access, guidance, or supervision is appropriate.

Additional SD43 Resources

For more information on digital literacy, online safety, and family learning, visit:

This guide provides general educational information for parents and caregivers. Security, filtering, and family-control tools can help reduce risk, but no technology can prevent every unsafe or inappropriate online experience.