Online Safety
Children are growing up in a world with a bigger range of online activities than ever before and it is sometimes very hard for both children and adults to know how to stay safe.
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 range of online apps changes on a regular basis and the NSPCC have a site called Net Aware. This provides unbiased up-to-date information on current apps and sites along with advice to parents about dealing with issues.
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 in 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.
Online Assemblies
Following our Online Safety Assemblies for parents and children to mark ‘Safer Internet Day’ we would like to share with you some links and resources to help you stay safe online with your child.
The internet is a fantastic resource but one which must be used with care and by working alongside your child, we are able to minimise the risks of being online.
This Powerpoint explains some of the issues discussed at our assemblies:
- Online Safety
- Online Safety
- Online Safety
- Online Safety
- Online Safety
- Online Safety
- Online Safety
- Online Safety
- Online Safety
The following rules are useful lists for children on how to stay safe online. We recommend going through these with your child and always being open and honest about the benefits and dangers of being online.
Staying Safe Online
- Don’t post any personal information online – like your address, email address or mobile number.
- Think carefully before posting pictures or videos of yourself. Once you’ve put a picture of yourself online most people can see it and may be able to download it, it’s not just yours anymore.
- Keep your privacy settings as high as possible
- Never give out your passwords
- Don’t befriend people you don’t know
- Don’t meet up with people you’ve met online. Speak to your parent or carer about people suggesting you do
- Remember that not everyone online is who they say they are
- Think carefully about what you say before you post something online
- Respect other people’s views, even if you don’t agree with someone else’s views doesn’t mean you need to be rude
- If you see something online that makes you feel uncomfortable, unsafe or worried: leave the website, turn off your computer if you want to and tell a trusted adult immediately.
Top 10 tips for mobile phone safety
- Remember if you are being bullied it isn’t your fault and there is nothing so awful that you can’t speak to someone about it. Talk to a trusted adult at home or at school.
- Don’t reply to any nasty messages you receive.
- Don’t reply to a text from someone you don’t know.
- Keep the messages you have been sent so you can show them to a trusted adult and make a note of the time and date of the messages or calls you receive.
- Don’t answer calls from withheld numbers or numbers you don’t recognise, let it go to voicemail.
- Block numbers from people who are sending you nasty messages.
- If you are bullied repeatedly, you can change your number.
- Don’t give your mobile number to someone you don’t know.
- Don’t send pictures to someone you don’t know.
- If the problem is serious you can report it to the police, cyber mentors, or childline.
10 top tips if you’re being bullied online
- Tell an adult you trust if you are being cyberbullied
- Don’t respond or retaliate to bullying messages – it could make things worse
- Block users who send you nasty messages
- Save abusive emails or messages (or texts) you receive
- Make a note of dates and times you receive bullying messages, as well as details you have of the user’s ID and the url.
- Don’t pass on any cyberbullying videos or messages – this is cyberbullying
- If you are bullied repeatedly change your user ID, or profile, and use a name that doesn’t give any information away about you
- Visit bullying.co.uk – this is a website where trained counsellors can support you if you are being bullied, either by chatting online or by calling their free helpline. You can also find some top tips on how to stay safe – http://www.bullying.co.uk/
- You can talk to someone at Child Line or get online safety advice at http://www.childline.org.uk/talk/Pages/Talk.aspx
- http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/ is another very useful website for children and young people staying safe online
Useful links
http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/topics/safety-and-privacy/
https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-centre/parents-and-carers
https://www.childnet.com/