Free Tool
Family Safety Plan Builder
No single page serves the whole household — children's pages ignore grandparents, senior pages ignore teenagers. This builder fixes that: pick who is in your household, choose the rules that fit each person, add the people to call in an emergency, and download a one-page plan written for everyone in the house. Nothing you type leaves your device.
Local-only: nothing you type leaves this page. Names and phone numbers you enter are used only to build your plan, in your browser. They are not sent anywhere, stored on a server, or shared. Print or download the plan, and close the page when you are done.
What this tool does
A family safety plan is a short, written agreement about how a household uses the internet: what the rules are, who is responsible for what, and what to do when something goes wrong. It works because it is written down and agreed, not because it is enforced by software. Children know who to tell when a stranger messages them. Teenagers know the family rule about sharing photos. Older adults know that a bank will never ask for a password on the phone. And everyone knows the same two phone numbers: the person to call inside the family, and the person to call outside it.
This builder creates that plan in a few minutes. You tick who is in the household — children, teenagers, adults, older adults — and the builder suggests the rules that fit each group, which you can keep or remove. You add the emergency contacts in your own words, choose the three actions that matter most for your household, and the builder assembles a one-page plan you can print, stick on the fridge, or save as a text file. The plan is written in plain language so a child can read it and a grandparent can follow it.
The builder is the companion to the family internet safety plan guide on this site, which covers the same ground in depth: per-age checklists, parental-controls setup, what to do if a child is cyberbullied, and where to get professional help. Use the guide to understand the rules, and this builder to write them down.
Try it
Tick who is in your household, choose the rules, add your contacts, and build the plan.
Who is in your household?
Rules to include (tick the ones your family agrees to):
Waiting. Choose who is in your household and which rules to include, then build the plan.
How it works
The builder works from a simple idea: a plan that fits the household must be built from the household. It starts with the people — children, teenagers, adults, older adults — because each group needs different rules, and a plan written for one group will be ignored by the others. Then it offers the rules that research and the family-safety guides on this site recommend, grouped so each household can keep the ones it agrees to and drop the ones that do not fit. Finally it adds the two contacts that matter in an emergency: someone inside the family, and someone outside it.
The rules are written as promises, not prohibitions. Never share a password, not even with a friend, is a rule a teenager can repeat. If something online makes us uncomfortable, we tell someone — and nobody gets in trouble for telling, is a rule that makes reporting safe. That last part matters most: a plan fails when children are afraid to report something because they broke a rule getting there, so the plan states plainly that telling is always safe, whatever happened before it.
The plan is assembled in your browser and offered as a printable page and a downloadable text file. The downloadable file is plain text, so it opens anywhere and lasts — no app, no account, no format that will stop working. Print it and stick it where the family can see it, and review it together every few months, because the rules that fit a nine-year-old will not fit the same child at thirteen.
Limitations
A written plan helps, but it does not replace supervision, device settings or conversation. It will not stop a determined stranger, a sophisticated scam, or a teenager under pressure — it gives the family shared language and a shared response for when those things happen. For cyberbullying, exploitation or anything that threatens a child's safety, professional help is needed, and the family guide on this site signposts where to get it.
- The plan is built in your browser from the options you tick. It does not check your family's devices, enforce the rules, or monitor anyone — and it should not be used as a substitute for parental controls where those are needed.
- Names and phone numbers you type are used only to build the plan in this page. They are not sent anywhere, and they disappear when you close the page unless you download or print the plan.
- Review the plan regularly. Children grow, scams change, and a plan written two years ago may not cover this year's risks.
Examples
Example 1 — a household with young children. Tick Children and Adults, keep the rules about photos, passwords and telling an adult, and add the parent's number as the inside contact. The plan reads as a short list a child can understand: never share a photo with a stranger, never share a password, tell Mum or Dad straight away. Print it and put it next to the family computer.
Example 2 — a household with teenagers. Tick Teenagers and Adults, and add the rule about checking messages through the real app — because teenagers are the most likely to be targeted by fake delivery and account messages. The plan includes the no-blame rule: if something goes wrong, telling is safe. That rule is what gets a teenager to report a problem instead of hiding it.
Example 3 — three generations under one roof. Tick all four groups, keep the bank rule for older adults and the photo rule for children, and add both contacts: a family member inside the house and the bank's fraud line outside it. The plan is one page, but it speaks to everyone in the household, which is the gap this builder exists to fill.
Frequently asked questions
What is a family internet safety plan?
A short, written agreement about how a household uses the internet: the rules, who is responsible for what, and what to do when something goes wrong. It works because it is written down and agreed by everyone, not because it is enforced by software.
Why do we need a written plan instead of just talking about it?
Because a written plan is remembered and can be pointed to. A conversation fades; a page on the fridge is there when a stranger messages a child at 9 p.m. and the child needs to know what to do.
Does this builder store our names or phone numbers?
No. Everything you type is used only to build the plan in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server or stored anywhere — download or print the plan, and it is gone when you close the page.
How often should we review the plan?
Every few months, and whenever something changes — a child gets a first phone, a new scam appears, a family member moves in. The rules that fit a nine-year-old will not fit the same child at thirteen.
What should we do if a child is cyberbullied?
Listen, save the messages, and tell a teacher or another trusted adult. Do not reply to the bullies. Professional help is available — the family safety guide on this site signposts the right services, including Childline in the UK.