Foster carers & children asked - we listened
enable offers unique support, training and tools so you can help children flourish online.
enable is created for you by online safety specialists and psychologists, with foster carers and young people.
- Video
About the training course: Fostering in a digital age
About Enable
We developed Enable after studying the online lives of young people over several years. Our research found that some children and teens were more at risk than others online. Many had offline vulnerabilities or difficulties, such as emotional or mental health concerns, so a bad online experience was acutely felt and potentially harmful. Yet the digital world meant so much to them. It could be a refuge from their everyday struggles and offered support and connection, plus exciting opportunities.
We explored how frontline children’s services interact with children and young people in cases with a digital component. They told us what they found challenging and what was needed. What we learned is brought to Enable-pathway with advice from 40 young people in foster care and more than 70 foster carers.
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How children in care benefit from the digital world (in their own words)
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About prejudice-related bullying
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Online Gaming
How I handled it
Real stories from Foster Carers, created to give you a different perspective and insight into the challenges you may be facing, or could face in the future.
Below is a selection of what foster carers say.
Keeping an eye on the child’s internet use
"I review his browsing history and monitor game usage. I do some spot checks of devices and discreet listening."
Neglect and abuse
"Unfortunately, when children that come into care have had long term neglect and have had to fend for themselves and have never been… their actions have never been questioned. It's very difficult for the carer to explain and try and help them understand that the way that they use their phones and the information that they're giving and the conversations that they're having and the pictures they are taking is not appropriate. I think looked after children think they're the only ones going through it. That is why I put this child I have now into a group where they can interact with other children with a similar experience."
Introducing a young child to technology
"We’ve actually been able to drip feed him the technology because he came to us as a small boy. He is doing well and still loves his books."
Self-blame after abuse
"I told her it wasn't her fault. She was a child. It was the adult that was doing whatever was done. It was the adult's fault. It wasn't her fault and that she had her childhood taken away from her at an early age. And that is why it made her do the wrong decisions when it comes to boys, because she thinks she has to. She thought she had to act a certain way to get a boyfriend because she thought that's what boys wanted."
You’re invading my privacy by monitoring my phone!
"We tried changing the way we approached it to show it was because we cared if she was OK or not. She said in the end that this was the first time anyone had cared if she was safe. So, in the end she was OK with it."
Communicating with the child
"I speak to them consistently and raise awareness as well as make sure I’m aware of all online platforms they may be using."
Filters and controls
"I have their passwords and have set parental filters, we only allow age appropriate content."
You wouldn’t understand
"I basically sat her down, because she was old enough at the time to listen to me. I came from an abusive childhood. That's why I went into fostering myself. So I explained to her about the control my father had over all of us and my mother -about the domestic violence, about the poverty. And I explained to her that for my mother, that wasn't a positive, loving relationship. However, it didn't make my father a bad person. My father had been parented similar. I said just some people are not good parents. It doesn't make them bad people. Parenting doesn't come with a manual. She visits me now with her own child."
Monitoring the child’s internet use
"I check their social media and ask questions, keep communication open."
Communication
"Being open from the outset on what is acceptable, building trust, talking about it regularly and setting clear boundaries and expectations."
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