Zeeko Advice Hub

Learn how to help young people to safely benefit from the Internet and technology

Staying Connected to What Your Child is Doing Online

  One of the concerns we hear most frequently from parents at our parent seminars in primary and secondary schools, relates to how challenging it can be to keep up with what children are doing when they are online. This concern is totally understandable as parents lead increasingly busy and demanding lives. It can undoubtedly…

Helping your Child Stay Grounded when using Social Networking Apps

  A survey of over one thousand young people aged 14 to 24 has found that Instagram is the worst social media site in terms of its impact on the mental health of young people. The #StatusofMind survey conducted by the Royal Society for Public Health, found the photo-sharing app negatively impacted on people’s body…

Childhood Obesity and Technology: What Parents Can Do

  The World Health Organisation has warned that the increased use of technology by children is leading to increased rates of obesity. The Report: Adolescent Obesity and Related Behaviours, looked at the prevalence of obesity among adolescents between the years 2002 and 2014. Almost two thirds of children were found to be spending more than…

Smartphones: Keeping your Child Safe

  There has been lots of coverage recently about the proposed legislation by Fine Gael TD Jim Daly, that would see parents fined for not effectively controlling their children’s use of smartphones and could potentially see retailers fined for selling smartphones to children under the age of 14. It is yet to be seen whether…

Helping your Child Deal with Peer Pressure in the Digital World

  Peer pressure has always been a part of childhood and has always been a challenge for parents to deal with. However, now that there is a digital aspect to the way children of all ages communicate, peer pressure has a whole new dimension. Parents can understandably feel very concerned about the pressure that their…

MeowChat App: What Parents Need to Know

From meeting parents at our parent seminars that take place in primary and secondary schools throughout the country, we regularly hear that the number of apps now available can be overwhelming and it can be a challenge to stay on top of the newest developments. MeowChat is an app that allows users to chat to…

Empowering your Child to Stay Safe Online

  In an interview earlier this year our Founder Joe Kenny indicated that internet safety needs to be seen as something as important as learning to safely cross the road. With the increasing use of digital devices and wifi being available more widely in public places, children of all ages have access to a digital…

Teens and Screens: Creating a Balance

  The term ‘screenager’ is becoming increasingly common and it’s not hard to see why. The amount of screens that young people have access to in their everyday life is huge. With a growing number of schools using technology like iPads and Tablets as part of the educational experience, teens can spend a huge amount…

Zeeko Top Tips for Staying Safe when Sharing Videos and Photos

  Video and photo sharing online are a very popular way for teenagers in particular to communicate with their friends. Usually sharing begins with photos and then moves on to videos. From our work in primary and secondary schools throughout the country we know that parents concerns grow as their children become more familiar with…

SimSimi: What we Need to Learn From It

The SimSimi app has caused a huge degree of controversy here in the last week or so and while it has now been suspended in Ireland there are certainly lessons that can be learned from the use of the app. While the immediate dangers of SimSimi have been removed for Irish users there is no…

WhatsApp: What Parents Need to Know

WhatsApp has revolutionised online messaging, little doubt of that. The app, which allows users to make calls, send messages, videos and photos has approximately 630 million users every day. WhatsApp is particularly appealing to teens as all you need to use the app is a smartphone that is wifi enabled. In the US 27% of…

Online Group Chats: How to Keep Your Child Safe

  There was a time not too long ago when the only way to communicate was face to face. That’s most certainly not the case now. Given the hectic lives that people live the convenience of using messaging apps to communicate cannot be underestimated. When we visit schools throughout the country we hear from children…

Sharing Passwords: What your Child Needs to Know

  It is human nature to presume that when something is password protected that it is secure and safe. We regularly remind parents and the children we talk to that safety settings in general, are a step in the right direction but they are not a 100% guarantee of safety. One new trend we are…

Roblox: What Parents Need to Know

  When we visit schools throughout the country delivering seminars to children, parents and teachers focusing on how to stay safe online, we hear on a weekly basis about the online world that an increasing number of children inhabit and it’s not just apps and messaging that interest kids. Websites that create a virtual reality…

The Kik App: What Parents Need to Know

  Sharing videos, images and messages via apps is fast becoming a new communication phenomenon among Irish children and teenagers. Kik is a new messaging app which allows users to chat and also share videos, images and content from the web in the form of a text message that does not have a limit on…

Top Tips for Being a Great Digital Parent

  The term digital parenting is relatively new but one that is becoming more and more common. The increased use of digital devices and access to the internet has certainly added a new dimension to parenting. From listening to what parents are saying to us during our parent seminars the prospect of digital parenting can…

The Lego Life App: What Parents Need to Know

  Lego, it’s central to most childhoods and has certainly stood the test of time. Now Lego has embraced social networking, with the launch of the Lego Life app. The app has been developed for Android and iOS, to offer children the chance to freely express themselves and share ideas in a friendly environment, but…

Why It's Never Too Early to Learn About Staying Safe Online

  Technology and digital devices are now part of the vast majority of Irish homes and children at a younger and younger age are exposed to technology in all its forms. In the research for our most recent All Ireland Digital Trend Report we discovered that children as young as five had access to a…

Safer Internet Day 2017- Be the Change: Unite for a Safer Internet

    Safer Internet Day is an annual event to promote responsible use of the internet and encourage all citizens to be conscious of how they use the internet. This year Safer Internet Day takes place on 7th February and will be an opportunity to remind children throughout Ireland about the fantastic opportunities that the…

Social Media: How to Keep Your Child Safe

  Social media, it seems to be everywhere! Be it Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat there is always some new development or controversy making headlines about a social networking site or app. Through our work at Zeeko we often hear from parents who are overwhelmed by the amount of apps, games and social networking sites…

Children and Smartphones: Keeping Kids Safe

  One of the most common questions asked by parents at our parent seminars in schools throughout the country relates to what age is the right age to allow a child to have a smartphone? Smartphones can open up a whole new world to your child in very positive ways such as teaching them about…

Children and Technology: Setting Boundaries

  From our most recent research for our All Ireland Digital Trend Report, we discovered that children as young as 5 spend some time online every day. This means that technology is a central part of childhood, at an increasingly young age. How to manage the time children spend online can be a constant challenge…

Cyberbullying: It's Everyone's Concern

  At the recent release of their Annual Report, the ISPCC indicated that from the work they are engaged in every day, cyber safety is the biggest safety concern of our time. At Zeeko when working with primary and secondary schools throughout the country, we promote the message of the internet being a fantastic resource…

Staying Safe Online Over The Christmas Holidays

  As the Christmas holidays start in earnest this week, it is a good time to remind your children whether they are young or a little older about the importance of staying safe online over the next few weeks. It is highly likely that Santa is going to deliver smartphones and/or digital devices in all…

Yellow App: What Parents Need to Know

  Yellow, to most people it denotes a colour but it is also an app, an app that there is much talk about and one that parents certainly need to be aware of. The Children’s Rights Alliance and the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection in Ireland made a statement recently on the Yellow App and…

The Language your Child is Speaking Online: What you Need to Know

Language is the key to communication from the earliest stages of childhood, however there is now a brand new language being spoken online by kids and teens and the vast majority of adults know very little about it. At the parent seminars we deliver to parents associations throughout the country, we regularly hear that parents…

Screentime: How Best to Manage it

  When we visit schools throughout Ireland and during our parents digital crash courses one question that comes up consistently is in relation to screentime, how best to manage it and how to encourage a healthy online offline balance for children. The reality is that in this digital age screens are everywhere. Children could potentially…

Musical.ly App: What Parents Need to Know

  The Musical.ly app reached number 1 in the app charts a few weeks ago. So why is it so popular and what do you need to be aware of to ensure that your child stays safe, when they are using it? Musical.ly is essentially a way of sharing music videos with friends. While this…

Dangerous Apps: What Parents need to Know

  Today’s parents are well aware of the dangers lurking on popular social media sites. We often read or hear horror stories about cyberbullies, online predators, and identity thieves. In response to these threats, many of us have followed our kids’ lead and joined the major sites and apps, like Facebook or Twitter, to keep…

The Positive Effects of Social Media on Kids and Teens

  It was a challenge coming up with a title for this blog, as it seems strange to be highlighting the positive effects of using social media, but there are some! As we regularly say at Zeeko the Internet is a fantastic resource, but it is something that has to be navigated. Our children and…