Parents/Online Safety Information
Most parents will want to reduce the risks to their children, and remembering to set parental controls can reduce the risks to children, and reduce the risk to parents when children accidentally spend online money! The internet matters website explains this quite well. Online safety is not just about protecting children from some of the dangers of the internet – it is also about helping them manage their use of technology and most of the parental controls allow adults to set a maximum time for the use of a device or app.
Internet Matters is a site paid for by many British companies. It has a lot of good advice on adding parental controls as well as on most aspects of online safety. Parental controls will only help keep children safe. The best safety feature that a child has is their parent or carer. Take the time to talk to your child about the apps and games they are using and don’t be afraid to say no sometimes!
The NSPCC have teamed up with O2 to provide advice to parents and have a free helpline on 0808 800 5002. They will also give support in any O2 shop – you do not have to be an O2 customer.
ThinkUKnow is the website aimed at children and their parents from the National Crime Agency. It has lots of useful suggestions and advice on how to report issues. It also has lots of games and activities including Jessie and Friends for the younger children and Band Runner for the older ones.
For the youngest children being tricked into sharing pictures can be an issue. LGfL have produced a lovely free video which has some great advice and a very catchy song!
Many children will at times suffer from online bullying. It is really important that they have someone they can talk to and know that it is not acceptable. Most apps and sites will have systems inn place that allow bullying to be reported. Your child’s school may be able to help.
Children can call Childline on 0800 1111 for advice on anything that is worrying them.
Finally since 2015 is has been a criminal offence for an adult to send a message with sexual content to a child (This is Section 67 of the Serious Crime Act 2015). If you are concerned that this might have happened please contact The Police without further using the device. This will help ensure that evidence can be preserved. The Police can be contacted by phone or from the ThinkUKnow website.
Staying Safe Online – E-Safety reminder for parents
It is important that our pupils remain safe whilst learning remotely at home. The majority of online learning activities, found within the weekly online learning grids below, are linked to school programmes that have e-safety measures established to protect your child whilst working online. However, parents should always be mindful that there are always e-safety risks when searching the World Wide Web and using online platforms such as U-tube etc. If possible, parents should supervise their children whilst searching the internet or, if not possible to do so, ensure that their home computers, tablets, phones etc. have parental restrictions set to block any inappropriate online material.
Remote Learning – Online Safety Device
Probably the ‘best’ website for general advice is internetmatters.org – It is particularly useful for information on setting parental controls.
In school, Google is automatically locked to a safe search, this will not always happen at home. A good, child friendly search engine to recommend to parents is swiggle.org.uk
The Parents’ Guide to Teaching your Teen Online Safety.
Here’s the full guide for your reference: https://www.mytutor.co.uk/blog/parents/the-parents-guide-to-teaching-your-teen-online-safety/
TikTok
Please see the leaflet below from Northumberland Police regarding TikTok guidance.
Squid Game (Netflix)
There has been a lot of media reports this week about Netflix’s Squid Game. This is currently the most watched show in 90 countries and nearly all episodes of the ’15’ rated show contain violent and gruesome scenes. The Safeguarding Partnership has received some important information around the potential risks posed to children and young people from this show and some top tips to keeping children and young people safe. In addition, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command (CEOP) have produced some information for parents / carers.
SAFEGUARDING UPDATE – Squid Game
In addition there is further information about managing specific websites and challenges from here:
More information from CEOP: https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/articles/theres-a-viral-scare-online-what-should-i-do/
